The World Outside
by Lulubird
Summary: Cato and Clove win the 74th Hunger Games but are forced to flee the Capitol's clutches. They run into the wilderness and discover another city they never even knew was there. Four is desperate to learn the truth about the world outside Chicago so he slips them into Dauntless life. Cato, Clove, Four and Tris will work together to answer questions about both their worlds.
1. Chapter 1: Escape

**Summary: **After they win the 74th Hunger Games, defy the Capitol and suffer the consequences, Cato and Clove escape the Capitol's clutches. They enter the wildnerness without a plan, but what happens when they find themselves encountering an unknown civilisation? Four and Tris will help them blend into Dauntless society and just perhaps together they can answer the questions of both their worlds.

**A/N: **Set during Divergent and post Hunger Games. Re insurgent Chicago was isolated from the outside world decades ago. No one in Panem knew of its existance, until Cato and Clove stumble upon it. Please read and review. -Lu

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CHAPTER ONE

"Cato stop...need...breathe..." Clove gasped, stumbling to a halt a few meters behind him. He didn't need to be asked twice. He crashed to a stop, throwing himself onto the ground and gasping for air. His lungs stabbed with sharp pain as he pulled each breath in. They had been sprinting flat-out for what felt like hours now, trying to put as much distance between them and the edge of the district as possible. It was a good thing they still had their Career fitness, or they would never have lasted this long.

"We can't just...keep running," Clove said to him from her position at the base of a large oak tree. She leant her sharp elbows on her knees and rested her head in her hands. It had only taken them a moment to decide to run and she knew that staying had never been an option but it still hurt to think of everything they had left behind. It hurt even more to think of the uncertainty they now faced. She hated not having a plan.

Events had started on this course the second they both survived the 74th Hunger Games. When they had denied the Capitol's _request_ to enter the Capitol permanently they knew that things were going to change. When President Snow had drawn them both away on a Victor's ruse and sent his black clad killers in to slaughter their families, there was no other option. They had nothing left to stay for now. So they ran.

They had no idea where they were running to but did it really matter? Away. That was the answer. They were simply running away.

"We need to keep moving," Cato said simply, pushing himself off the ground with effort. The darkness was going to be approaching soon and they still needed to put more distance between them and the Capitol's reach before he would feel at all safe. It felt strange to both of them but they were on the defensive now. Their usual bloodlust for the offensive attack seemed to have vanished the second they lay eyes on the bloody corpses of their families. The hunt, the killing that they had almost enjoyed as part of their Career training suddenly left them sickened.

Clove silently rose to her feet too, knowing there was no point in expressing how exhausted she was. Her brother's words rang in her head as they began to jog through the trees. _You can sleep when you're dead_. That was never truer than now.

Once it was almost completely dark and they were both stumbling over the roots and vines of the forest floor they realised they had to stop. They were not going to make any progress if one of them managed to break a leg or fall over a cliff. They had very few supplies with them and they daren't risk lighting a fire, so they huddled together in the dark, backs against a large tree. It felt safer having the strong, impenetrable trunk to their backs. It would have been logical to have one of them on sentry while the other slept but they were too tired to even discuss it before they were both asleep.

* * *

The raucous birdsong of dawn woke them both long before they wanted to. Cato stretched out his stiffened limbs and felt the blood rush back to his fingertips with a tingling sensation. Every single muscle felt stiff and painful and the stinging of scratches from branches and leaves only added to it. It was a good thing they were no strangers to pain and discomfort, or else they wouldn't survive half a day out here with what they had. But thankfully the punishing training of district 2 prepared its tributes for the harshness of the woods without food, water or warmth.

Still, before they had left they had scavenged together a few items. Water canisters had been top of the list. The memories of excruciating thirst in the Arena were still far too fresh in their minds. A few items of clothing had been next. Finally Clove had insisted that she have her knives with her. Not all of them of course but her few favourites. He had told her that if they were caught and she was found to have them it would mean instant death but she had crossed her arms stubbornly and glared at him in that way that he knew meant no further discussion was to be had. Besides, considering the unknown of what they faced, he must say the idea of having weapons in their hands was quite comforting. He just wished he had been able to escape with a sword or spear. But they were a bit harder to smuggle out than Clove's knives. She had given him one to slip into his sock and he had appreciated the gesture. He knew how protective she was of those knives.

It was for one of their bottles of water that he reached now. His fingers had just closed around the cool neck of the bottle when he froze, his eyes catching sight of a shadowy figure crouched in the undergrowth immediately across from them.

"Clove!" he hissed, jabbing her into consciousness with his elbow. He didn't even wait for her disgruntled yelp of pain before he was on his feet, his fingers reaching immediately down to curl around the smooth handle of the blade. He didn't draw it but crouched, tensed, watching the person. He couldn't make out much about them in the shadows of the trees but it was unmistakably a human being.

Next to him Clove picked up on his alertness almost instantly and mirrored his posture, reaching for the comforting feel of several blades in her jacket. It took her eyes a few seconds of searching before she too saw what had captured his attention.

"What is it?" she whispered at him, her eyes not leaving the figure.

"Don't attack!" a shaking voice called from the woods. There was movement in the shadows and the figure materialised towards them, forming into the solid form of a teenage boy. He held his hands raised at head height, palms facing them. He looked even more ragged than they felt, and Cato guessed he had spent several weeks in the wilderness.

"Who are you?" Cato barked. The pathetic appearance of the boy didn't make him any less suspicious and his fingers were still tight around the blade.

"My name's Isaac," the boy said, his eyes flicking nervously over the both of them. Clove was studying him too. She'd never seen anyone wearing clothing like he had; a loose black t-shirt and black jeans. The grimy fabrics were stark against his pale skin but perfectly complemented his mop of greasy black hair. It hung in weak strands around his face and it looked as if leaves and dirt were tangled in it. Most surprising to Clove were the strange pieces of metal piercing his face. He had several scattered up both ears and another protruding from his lip. Despite the tension of the situation she couldn't help but stare curiously at it. Why would anyone do that to their face? Didn't it get in the way when he ate?

Cato meanwhile was confused by the strange black and coloured pictures that swirled up his arms. They were criss-crossed with lines of oozing red where he had clearly gained scratched just like Cato and Clove.

"Do you have any weapons?" Cato called back, though he had already run an experienced eye over him looking for the tell tale bumps of concealed weapons. Despite his natural suspicion, his instincts were telling him that this frightened and impoverished boy was not going to be a threat to them.


	2. Chapter 2: Isaac

CHAPTER TWO

It took Cato several more barked questions before he eased his aggressive stance slightly. After a whispered conversation with Clove, both their eyes still on the boy, she drew her knife and held it ready before her. The boy's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the revealed knife but to his credit he didn't move. So he wasn't unused to the sight of weapons. Interesting.

Cato left Clove covering him with her poised knife and strode confidently towards the boy.

"Hold your arms out," he ordered, his eyes flashing with a fire that had made the strongest tributes of the training centre drop their gaze. He checked the boy for weapons, noting how the boy's body was shaking slightly as he poked and prodded at him. Finding nothing he gave a slight shake of his head in Clove's direction. As Cato strode back towards her, her knife lowered slightly though she kept a firm grip on it. They wouldn't trust anyone for a while.

"Where have you come from?" she asked him as Cato rejoined her.

"Could I- Could I have a drink?" the boy asked, ignoring her question, his eyes flicking to the bottles at their feet. After a moments deliberation Clove bent and tossed him one of the bottles. Cato didn't object.

The boy clawed at the lid of the bottle and gulped the liquid. He didn't even seem to breathe as he drained the bottle in several seconds, trickles of water trailing down his chin, leaving a clear path in the dirt caking his skin.

It was this sight that finally made Clove lower her knife, slipping it back into her jacket. She shared a nervous glance with Cato. They were both wondering what implications this boy's story would have for them.

"I'm from the city," he said finally, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and tossing the empty bottle back at them.

"Unlikely," Cato replied shortly. His eyes moved over the boy again, this time slightly contemptuously of his attire. They had both spent more time in the Capitol than they ever wanted and it was easy to see this boy would never have come from there. His plain black clothes and grimy hair were practically the opposite of everything the sickening Capitol socialites desired.

" You're not from the Capitol," Clove said sharply, clearly her thoughts running in the same direction as Cato's.

The boy frowned at them and the rising sunlight glinted from a piercing in his eyebrow which they hadn't noticed before. "The Capitol? What's that?" he asked in a thick voice.

Cato and Clove threw a glance at each other. How could he not know of the Capitol? It was the ruler of everything. Had he been living out here his whole life? But surely if that was the case he wouldn't look as ragged as he did, and as unprepared for the woods.

There was a moment of silence as they both tried to process the information and read the expression in each other's eyes. A noise drew their attention back to the boy, Isaac, and they saw that he had folded in and collapsed to the ground in a heap of black limbs. He looked up at them from the ground with exhausted eyes. Slowly Cato knelt down on the ground. He rummaged in his satchel and tossed a small portion of food at the boy. They didn't have much to spare but this boy looked like he hadn't eaten in days.

Clove remained standing. She took out one of her knives and began to polish the blade with the sleeve of her jacket, pacing a few paces and then back again.

"What city are you from Isaac?" she asked without looking at him.

"Chicago," he said through a mouthful of the food Cato had given him. He said the unfamiliar word as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"That's not in Panem," Cato said, glancing at Clove again. They had studied maps of Panem in school and that wasn't a place they had ever heard of. "Where are you from?" he asked again.

Isaac was frowning at them again, licking his lips for a last crumb. "What's Panem?"

It was Cato's turn to frown now. Coming from a city they'd never heard of was one thing, but now even knowing what country you were in? "This is Panem." He waved his arm around him. "Everything around you. We've come from District 2. We're looking for..." his voice trailed off as he realised he had no finish for that sentence.

"What?" Isaac asked in a quietly serious voice, his eyes trained intently on Cato.

"We don't know," admitted Clove, ceasing her pacing and frowning at him.

"Where you come from...is it safe?" asked Cato.

"No." The word was harsh from Isaac's mouth. His mouth set into a grim line and his eyes hardened.

"Well is there anywhere else?" Cato's heart was sinking.

Isaac looked up at them with a surprised expression. "You tell me." He gave a simple shrug. "Until I escaped I never knew there was anything outside the city fence."

"Escaped...?" Clove whispered the word, more to herself than the others. She didn't like the sound of that.

"There's nowhere to run then," Cato said shortly, rocking back on his heels and throwing his head back to look up at the sky.

"Where you come from...?" Isaac asked in a hopeful voice.

"Don't bother." Clove's words were sharp and cold. "They'll kill you in a second. You might as well go back."

Isaac's hair whipped around his face as he shook his head vigorously. "I can't go back. I'm factionless now."

Cato frowned at the unfamiliar words. None of what this boy said made sense to him.

"Then you'll die." Clove's cold words drew both boy's gaze to her. She simply shrugged at them. It was just the truth.

Isaac's chin rose stubbornly and for the first time he didn't look pathetic or weak. "Perhaps it's better that way," he said in a quiet voice tinged with sadness.

Cato looked back at him. What world does he come from he wondered to himself. Is ours any different? We decided when we began this that if they caught us it didn't matter. We'd rather be dead than stay there. Maybe there isn't anything out there after all. Nothing but more pain and more cruelty. Still, they had to head somewhere. It wasn't in either of their natures to just give up, curl up in the forest and wait for death. Even if that was what awaited them at the other end they had to head somewhere.

"We want to go to your...city." He didn't ask Clove but he knew she would agree with him

Isaac shook his head sadly again, staring glumly at the groun. "You won't get in. The Dauntless, they guard the fence, they'll kill anyone who gets near."

"If there's nowhere else we don't have a choice. We have to try."

"Come with us," Clove said suddenly. It was completely out of character for her but she couldn't stand the thought of sending anyone so defenceless back towards the suffering they had just escaped. Not a single creature on the planet deserved that.

"No. I'd rather die out here in the wilderness than go back. You can't imagine what they made me do."

Cato coughed to hide his indignation and bitterness at the thoughts that rose up in his mind. "Oh, you'd be surprised," he commented dryly.


	3. Chapter 3: The Fence

**A/N: I'd almost given up on this story but it appears a few people do read it so I will keep going. Thanks guys.**

CHAPTER THREE

It took them about two more weeks before they saw the next sign of human life, though it was difficult to keep track of the days. In a way it was good, because no life meant no Capitol. After seven days of running they finally decided they were safe enough to start a small fire, and as the temperature had been steadily dropping since they left, they were extremely grateful for its little warmth. They followed roughly the direction that Isaac had pointed them in though the chances of ending up where he came from seemed slim. However they had nothing to lose so they determinedly trekked on, growing more and more tired. They found plenty of fresh water to fill up their bottles and from time to time one of them managed to kill a small animal with a thrown knife- more often Clove than Cato though he caught them a very welcome rabbit. They had no idea what District they were in, if they were even still in once, but every now and then they would cross what appeared to be an old road. Though old was an understatement. They were crumbling strips of bitumen that had clearly not been driven on in decades. Huge holes marked the black surface and, even though they had clearly been deserted for some time, neither of them felt game enough to follow the roads. Roads led somewhere, civilisation, and that was exactly what they wanted to avoid.

They couldn't run from it forever though.

Just as the sun was rising one day Cato stopped dead, making Clove bump into his back.

"What you doing?" she growled grumpily, rubbing her nose which has met his shoulder blade.

He hissed a warning of silence at her and she instantly forgot her indignation and grew alert to the sounds around her. Without even realising they both slipped into a defensive position, back to back, watching the woods.

Voices.

That was what Cato had heard. Faint, distant, but most definitely human voices. Laughter. The sound was strange against their ears after so long of only each other, and neither of them had been disposed much to laughter since they fled.

"Over the ridge," Clove muttered, tracing the source of the voices. Silently, stealthily they both crept closer towards the rise in front of them. As they got nearer they dropped to the ground in perfect sync and crawled forward on their stomach's to peer through the trees at what lay in the next valley.

The sight shocked them both. A great fence stretched for miles in either direction. Taller than any they had ever seen, taller even that those that encircled the Districts. On the other side was several hundred metres of barren land; no bushes, no trees, nothing for cover. In the distance, from the empty plain grew the gradual shapes of buildings, rising and tumbling over each other off into the distance until they rose on the horizon in several buildings that reminded them sharply of the Capitol.

_The city_.

Was this what Isaac had been talking about. There was a fence, there was a city. Was this Chicago?

It took them several minutes of silence staring to take in the whole scene and it was only then that their eyes picked out the source of the voices. A small group of people, almost invisible against the dawn gloom were huddled together at the base of the fence. As one of them moved they could see they were huddled around the flickering light of a small fire in a drum. The group chattered to each other and laughed as they held their hands of the meagre flames. As Clove and Cato watched a new pair of people slipped out of the darkness, following the fence from the right, and joined the group. This must have been a cue for then a different pair pulled themselves away from the warmth and disappeared into the darkness of the left. It was a patrol. What had Isaac called them? Dauntless guards. Cato had no idea what that meant but he didn't like how these guards looked. Despite their chatter and laughter they were clearly well organised and alert. His stomach did an uncomfortable flip. Every single one of them had a long black shape strapped over their backs. The ones that had disappeared away had pulled their round, clutching them in their hands and pointing them forwards.

Cato and Clove had never held one but they had seen the Peacekeepers use them.

Guns.

The words inspired dread in everyone in Panem. Only Peacekeepers used guns and they were a weapons of pure terror. A knife or sword or spear was no use to you if one of these was trained on you. And these people carried them with ease.

"Don't move." A quiet voice materialised out of the darkness behind them and Cato and Clove both froze, their breath held in their lungs. They were idiots. They had been so enraptured by the strange sights before them that they had let someone sneak up on them. It's a good thing my family can't see me now, Cato thought to himself oddly. They'd be so embarrassed that I, the best fighter in the District, got captured. Or killed.

Clove's shoulder was pressed up against his and he could feel her muscles trembling with tension.

"Turn around." The voice spoke again. It was quiet but so cold Cato knew it probably signed their death warrant. With growing dread they both flipped over onto their backs and looked up for the first time at their killer.

His features were obscured by the dusk but they could see he was tall. Probably about the same size and height as Cato, which ruled out overpowering him. Mind you, something else ruled that out. The barrel of a black gun was trained on them. Clove wanted to close her eyes against the sight of the menacing metal. If she was going to die she didn't want it to be looking down the barrel of a stranger's gun. With a start she felt a warmth in her hand. Cato's fingers gripped her slightly and she gave them a quick squeeze back, grateful that he could put aside his pride and fierceness and offer her that small gesture of friendship and comfort in what could be the last moments of their life. She had spent most of their training and the subsequent Games thinking Cato was a heartless, merciless tyrant. She couldn't possibly think that though after the sight of him losing at when he found his mother's body. She could never forget his wracking sobs or the cry like a wounded beast. Reaching for her hand now was just another chink in the armour of apparent cruelty he had built up.

"Where have you come from?"the boy asked them. He didn't move a muscle and Cato hated that they couldn't see his eyes, only the dark shadows over his face.

Neither of them knew how best to answer his question so they stayed silent.

"Where have you come from?" The boy shouted it slightly louder now, the gun jerking slightly in his hand as he jabbed it at them. Clove winced.

"The Capitol," Cato said eventually, giving Clove's hand another squeeze. His voice wasn't as strong as he would have liked it to be. The sight of the gun barrel made him feel sick to his stomach.

"Which faction are you?" The boy seemed to ignore their answer.

"F-faction?" Clove asked, trying to stop her teeth from chattering.

The boy scoffed slightly. "Well, you're clearly not Dauntless." He said it in almost a friendly tone.

Cato felt a little stronger at the boy's scoffing. His old pride kicked in and he lifted his chin in defiance a little.

"We're from District 2. We've escaped the Capitol and if you're going to kill us just get on with it."


	4. Chapter 4: Four

**A/N: Thanks reviewers! Especially 265 for your constructive criticism. I'm glad you said that because I'd been thinking of doing exactly that. I have a few chapters already written but from now on I'm going to write each chapter, or chapter sections from one characters POV, especially as the number of main characters is going to increase dramatically :).As for updates I will do my utmost, I promise, but I am about to launch into exam and essay time at uni, so the next two-three weeks will be difficult, so I beg you to be patient. Thanks again for reading! -Lu**

CHAPTER FOUR

Cato held his breath and waited to hear the sound of the gun fire that would end their lives. He refused to close his eyes and stared defiantly up at the boy. Several long, painful seconds stretched in silence until, to his surprise, the boy moved the gun away from them. There was a click that made Cato flinch involuntarily and then the boy was leaning down to offer him a hand, the gun swung back over his shoulder.

"Get up," he said simply. Cato didn't know whether to trust him or not but he figured they weren't dead so that had to mean something. Quickly he took the offered hand and felt himself hauled into a standing position. He turned to Clove and helped her to her feet too, feeling the shudder of her breath against his neck as she took up a position slightly behind him, pressed close and watching the stranger with wary eyes.

The boy stepped towards them and the shadows suddenly fell from his face. For the first time they could both see his eyes, which looked at them with curiosity rather than hatred.

"Come on, let's move away from the fence," he said quickly, his eyes moving passed them to the group by the fence and then jerking his head in the opposite direction. Silently he turned and loped off through the trees. Cato and Clove shared one last nervous look before Cato shrugged and they followed him.

"Cato, we can't trust him," hissed Clove in his ear as they picked their way through the trees. She had the distinct impression they were being led to their execution. But what other choice did they have? If they ran from him he would undoubtedly shoot them.

He stopped in the space of a small clearing where the sound of the voices had completely faded. He turned to face them, his gun still resting across his back, his stance surprisingly casual.

"You say you come from District 2?" The question was pointed.

"Yes," Cato said hesitantly, unsure of the safest answers to these questions. He hated this feeling of powerlessness but there was so much they didn't understand.

"And where is that exactly?"

Cato hesitated, unsure of how to answer. The question confused him. "We've walked roughly north for about 2 weeks."

The boy nodded seriously as if he was processing with great thought all the information they gave him. "Are there many...others?"

"Other what?"

"People."

Clove's voice piped up from behind Cato. "There are 12 Districts and the Capitol. I don't know how many people...hundreds of thousands."

The boy's eyes widened and he gaped at them for a few silent second. "Hundreds...thousands?" he muttered to himself in an awed voice.

Clove crossed her arms. The initial fear was beginning to wear off and being replaced by grumpiness. "Are you going to kill us? I'd rather know is all..." she said simply, glaring at the strange boy.

The boy twitched slightly and pulled his gun around, waving it in their general direction menacingly. . "Only if you cause me trouble." There was a smile on his face so they knew he was joking, but his voice carried a sense of seriousness that told them there was an element of truth to his words.

The comment was met from silence from the two of them.

The gun was swung casually across his back again. "You're lucky you know. If any of _them_ had found you you'd be dead in a second. We're tasked with shooting anyone near the fence." He pointed a hand back in the direction of the fence.

"So why haven't you shot us?" Clove asked insolently. Now that her fear was vanishing quickly her sharp tongue was coming back with a vengeance.

Cato gave her a nudge to shut up but the boy seemed to find her tone amusing. A smile played across his lips. "Well...I'm not technically a guard...and I never shoot anyone without a good reason."

'Lucky for us," hissed Clove bitterly.

The boy flashed a grin in their direction and scuffed one foot in the dirt.

"Here's the deal," he said, glancing back up at them. "I need to know about where you've come from."

"What do you want to know?" Cato asked suspiciously.

He shook his head. "Not now. Not here. I'm going to take you back to Dauntless and you're not going tell a single soul where you've come from, understand? It will mean your death if you tell anyone, and it won't be me killing you."

"And if we refuse?"

The boy laughed as if what Cato had said was highly entertaining. "Well then," he waved a hand behind him. "Feel free to disappear back into the wilderness. See if you can find somewhere else to go."

Cato and Clove glared at him in silence. They knew he was right. They had no idea what was going on or what this boy wanted from them but they had very little choice on the matter. If they went back into the woods they wouldn't probably last another week, and there was nowhere to go.

"We need to talk about it," Cato said simply. Without waiting for a reply he turned his back on the stranger and walked a few meters away. Clove trailed after him, more reluctant to turn her back to the boy. They stopped in the shelter of an oak tree and huddled together.

"I don't like it Cato," Clove whispered immediately. He was gazing over his shoulder keeping her eyes fixed to the boy, who stood staring into the darkness on the other side of the clearing.

"I know," Cato muttered. "But what are our alternatives, Clove?"

Her stubborn silence was answer enough. "We'll go with him and wait and see what happens."

"Fine," she muttered.

"What's the worst that can happen? If it goes bad he'll kill us." The words fell heavily between them. It was sadly true. They knew now that their own deaths were not the greatest punishment. That had already been done to them, so Cato was right, what did they have to lose?

"We'll come," Cato said simply, walking back to the boy.

He turned to them. He didn't look surprised, as if he had known what their answer would be.

"Right then. Let's head to one of the gates, about 2km that way." He pointed to the left. He took a few steps before stopping and turning back to them with another flashing smile. "By the way. I'm Four."

Clove, who was in the lead, blinked at him in confusion at the words, until she realised Four was his name. "Right. Um...I'm Clove. That's Cato." She pointed over her shoulder.

"Nice to meet you," the boy said before turning his back to them again and continuing stealthily through the trees. Clove followed a few paces behind him, marvelling at the strangeness of the boy.


	5. Chapter 5: Abnegation

**A/N: Getting closer to Dauntless guys. Get excited. :) Please review! -Lu**

CHAPTER FIVE

Once he got them through the fence it was surprisingly easy. All the Dauntless on the fence knew and trusted Four and so not one of them hesitated or looked at him suspiciously when he told them he thought he'd seen movement a few hundred feet to the east. They snapped into action and marched off. They weren't leaving the game completely unguarded. No one could get through without the codes still. It was just lucky that Four knew the codes.

There was a line of vehicle waiting just inside the gate and he climbed into one without a word to the two strangers, hoping they would have enough sense to just get on with it and follow him. They didn't say anything as they climbed into the back of the jeep. As soon as the door slammed behind the boy he pushed the gas and took off, bumping over the rough ground towards the edge of the buildings.

"Where are we going?" the girl asked, poking her head through the space between the front seats. She seemed to have gained quite a bit of courage since he told them he wasn't going to kill them.

"We're going to the edge of the train line. Then we're going to catch a train into Abnegation where we're hopefully going to not get you killed."

"So you have trains here?" Clove was almost curious about this strange city, almost forgetting the precarious position they were in.

"We have a lot of things here."

The sun was rising properly into the sky by the time they crossed the barren plain. No one spoke as Four pulled the vehicle up next to a line of similar looking ones and marched into the nearest building. Cato and Clove looked around them as they walked through what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse, and climbed a pair of rickety stairs out onto the roof. A raised train line ran parallel to the building, a few meters from the edge of the roof.

Four strode to the edge of the building and stared off in one direction for a few seconds. Then he turned to face them.

"Right. The train will be here in a few minutes. It's not going to stop."

"H-?" Clove began to ask but he held up a hand to silence her.

"We'll have to jump from here into one of the open carriages."

He glared at them, waiting for the outrage and complaints but Cato just shrugged like he didn't really care.

"Fine. Whatever," Clove said. Four tried to hide a smile. He was pleased with their reaction. Perhaps they'd make it in Dauntless after all.

A distant rumble announced the approaching train and he turned his back to them to look for it.

When it rushed towards them he started running, hoping the other two were copying him. He threw himself into one of the early carriages and turned immediately to help them up. The boy, Cato, jumped in behind him without any trouble at all, and jumped straight to his feet again. Four reached out his hand to help the girl in but she ignored it and grabbed the handles, pulling herself in meters from the edge of the roof top.

She laughed as she tumbled into the carriage and crashed into Cato, knocking him over again.

"That was fun!" she declared breathlessly, grinning as she scrambled to her feet. Four shook his head but he couldn't help but smile, as the train wooshed them towards Abnegation.

Their exit was even smoother than their entry and all three of them landed on their feet in the middle of Abnegation. The streets were quiet now as the sun was high in the sky, most people were either at work or school. Four didn't try to be subtle as he led them through the streets towards the grey Abnegation headquarters. If they had tried to creep through the streets it would have looked more suspicious.

No one stopped them as they marched into the building and through the corridors. Four knew where he would find the person he was looking for.

He scanned the sorting room as he pushed through the doors and was glad to see there was only one person there- the one he wanted. Her back was to him and she wore the plain grey clothes and tight bun of all the other Abnegation but he knew it was her. Natalie Prior.

As the women turned to face them Four lifted his chin and met her eyes with a determined gaze. She didn't say anything, her eyes flashed with recognition just as they had on Visiting Day.

"I think you know who I am," Four said in a quiet voice.

"You're Marcus' son."

Four dipped his head slightly, unable to even verbally acknowledge the title.

"I need your help."

The woman turned away and continued to stack tins onto the shelf, her movement slow and careful.

"I found these two outside the fence."

"So shoot them," she said with her back still turned. Her words were sharp and contained only a hint of sarcasm. Cato and Clove exchanged a look. So at least some people in this place didn't like killing.

"You don't understand. They've come from outside the fence."

The woman froze, holding a can halfway to the shelf. Slowly she turned back to them, her eyes training instantly on Cato and Clove, her expression unreadable.

"Are there more?" she asked intently.

Cato understood the question this time, the same on Four had asked. "Yes. Hundreds of thousands."

She nodded seriously, absorbing the information. "Wha-?"

"I need your help," Four cut her off sharply. "_They_ need your help."

Her eyes flicked between Four and the two strangers and she was clearly weighing up her options. Four let her think it over in silence. He knew she would help. She was Abnegation after all. He wasn't sure what her feelings were towards him, whether she believed the lies she had undoubtedly been fed, but he didn't really care. And he knew she had a special interest in keeping their secret. Evelyn had told him enough for him to know that Natalie Prior would be a benefit to him.

"I can get them passes. To give them late initiate status," she said eventually. Four nodded. This was what he had hoped she would do. There was a protocol for initiates who missed Choosing Day. It did happen occasionally, if they were sick or unable for some reason to make it on time. All it required was their decision before a Council member and a pass that declared them initiate in their chosen faction. The pass was irrefutable, so no matter how much Eric wouldn't like it, he couldn't deny it. "What faction?" she asked, looking now to the two. They stared back at her in silence.

"They'll have to be Dauntless," Four said quickly. It was probably the most dangerous faction for them to be in but he couldn't afford them being anywhere else. It would be too easy for their secret to escape without him to keep an eye on them. Besides, he had his own reasons for wanting to keep them close.

"Can you fight?" she asked, apparently ignoring Four.

Cato and Clove exchanged another look, trying to decide whether it was safe to reveal the extent of their abilities. It might be safer if the people here didn't view them as a complete threat, but then they didn't want to appear weaklings either.

"We can fight." Cato said simply. They would have to decide later how much of their skill to reveal. Clove felt the presence of the knives in her jacket and at her ankles, pressing against her skin but said nothing, just nodded.

The woman pressed her lips together in a thin line and stared at the two for a few seconds, analysing them. "Wait here. I'll get your passes. Don't move, don't speak to anyone. I'll be back as soon as I can." Without another word or a look at Four she strode from the room in a very un-Abnegation manner.

Four looked around him and, spotting a pile of cardboard boxes, took a seat. Cato and Clove stared at him.

"What now?" Clove asked.

"Now? We wait."

He was surprised at how quickly she returned. They'd only be waiting for about half an hour by the time she appeared through the door. She didn't look Four in the eye as she shoved two small, square gadgets into his hand. They had no screen or buttons on them but buzzed slightly in his hand.

"Show these to whoever's in charge. The scan has them listed as Dauntless initiates."

"Thank-you." He said the words seriously, hoping she would hear the sincerity in his voice. He didn't know how exactly she had gotten them but he was grateful she had.

"You all need to leave now," she said, her eyes flicking up to meet his for a moment before looking away again.

"We' re gone," he said, walking passed her and motioning for the other two to follow.

"Thanks," Clove muttered to the woman as she passed. She didn't have a clue what was going on.


	6. Chapter 6: Dauntless

**A/N: Thanks for the reads and reviews guys.**

CHAPTER SIX

Four's POV

All three of them were staring around as they descended one of the steep paths into Dauntless. Their heads flicked from side to side so much they were in danger of falling off the edge. Cato and Clove were staring about them in wonderment. They'd never seen a place like this before, so dark and earthy. The enormous cavern that had opened up in front of them seemed to stretch away forever into the darkness on either side. Four, though, was keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of trouble. This was probably the most dangerous part, slipping unnoticed into Dauntless. Luckily everyone seemed to be about their tasks on time today and there were only a few figures lingering in the Pit below them and they weren't paying them any attention.

"Watch your step," he called softly over his shoulder as they rounded a sharp bend. The passes buzzed annoyingly against his leg where they sat heavy in his pocket. Perhaps it was just his anxiety that made them so prominent.

"Don't offer up any information unless you're answering a direction question. Keep it to yes and nos where possible. And don't look Eric in the eye. He'll take that as a challenge." This last comment was directed at Cato, who Four sensed wouldn't be the type to shy from authority, and Eric would already dislike him, purely because he was clearly bigger and stronger that Eric.

"Who's Eric?" Clove asked, still staring around the space as they descended onto the flat ground of the Pit.

"Not your best friend," Four said sharply.

They hugged the walls of the Pit instead of crossing the open space, which felt too exposing. Four thought he'd almost got away with it when a familiar voice called out to him from the shadows of a passage on the right. His head flicked around automatically and his stomach flipped.

"Four!" Tris came jogging out of the darkness, a smile on her face at the sight of him. She stopped when her eyes fell on the other two and her expression shifted to wariness. She looked them up and down, in their unusual clothing that clearly identified them as intruders, and an inexplicable scowl crossed her face. She didn't even know them but she was onviously instantly on the defensive. Cato and Clove stared back at her, equally defensive, their arms folded across their chests, their gaze stony. Some of their old Career aggression reared its head.

"Jesus Tris slow down," called another voice. It was followed moments later by Uriah, who materialized out of the darkness to stand behind Tris. He stood too close Four found himself thinking. Uriah's grin vanished when he saw Four but he didn't look at the newcomers as suspiciously as Tris.

"Tris. Uriah," Four nodded curtly. He saw of flicker of hurt in Tris' eyes at his tone and had to stop himself from moving forward.

"Who're they?" Uriah asked bluntly, nodding towards Cato and Clove.

Four set his jaw grumpily at the boy's tone and stared him down. "New initiates Uriah. Not that it's any of your business."

"They're not initiates," the boy replied, stubbornly ignoring Four's glare and frosty tone. He sidled a little closer to Tris, as if to taunt him and Four felt his fists clenching slightly against his sides.

"Four, what's going on?" Tris asked, trying to defuse the tension a little. Four looked at her intently for a few seconds before heaving a sigh and pushing passed Tris and Uriah into the shadows of the passageway they had just emerged from. Cato and Clove hesitated out in the light, reluctant to follow into the darkness, until they heard Four's voice bark at them to hurry up. Tris and Uriah spun around and walked with them in silence until they all saw Four's figure, leaning up against a door. When he saw them approach he flung it open and nodded for them all to go inside. Cato, Clove and Uriah filed in silently but on the threshold Tris paused and threw Four a look. He stared resolutely at the passage wall opposite, staring with complete concentration at a dent in the stone until she gave up with a sigh and followed the others inside.

They were in one of the smaller practice rooms and it was deserted except for some targets resting against the far wall. Four strode into the room and shut the door firmly behind him. He eyed the group; Cato and Clove were sticking close together, though Cato was looking hungrily at the targets and Clove was studying Uriah with a sideways glance; Uriah was returning her curiosity, though with far less subtlety; Tris was standing with her arms crossed glaring at the ground, refusing to look at him.

"Tris and Uriah, I'm going to tell you something and your ability to keep it a secret will mean life or death, do you understand me?" Everyone's eyes were on him now. "Do you understand?" His voice had slipped into trainer tone and he barked the question at them. They nodded quickly and he saw the anger in Tris' eyes flicker slightly to a spark of intrigue. "There are things you are not going to understand so I'm going to need you just accept some things I say alright? No questions." He didn't wait for them to reply. "These two have come from outside the fence."

He paused a moment and waited for that information to register in their minds. Uriah stared at him for a moment before looking at Cato and Clove again, this time with his mouth slightly open and absolutely no attempt at subtlety. Tris kept her eyes trained on Four and he held her gaze. He knew she was smart, smarter than the others, and he wished he knew how much she knew. He tried to read in her expression what this information meant to her but she kept her thoughts guarded.

"They've come from outside this city. They don't have a faction and I'm- we're- going to make them Dauntless. Do you understand?" They nodded, though Tris was hesitant.

"Right. Do not breathe a word to anyone or I will throw you in the Chasm myself," this was directed at Uriah more than Tris and Four took some satisfaction as Uriah dropped his eyes sheepishly and scuffed one foot on the ground.

"You two," he nodded at Cato and Clove. "Remember what I said, don't speak a word unless you have to." He was impressed at how accommodating they were being. Granted he hadn't given them much choice but they were showing an excellent adaptability. He couldn't imagine how his mind would have felt in their situation, thrown into the middle of a whole new world you never knew existed. It was hurting his mind enough simply knowing another world existed out there, and he hadn't even seen it yet. Time for that later he reminded himself. He had to suppress all the curiosities and questions for now. He would never get them answered if he managed to get them both killed by Eric.

"Follow me." Four turned his back on them and marched from the room again. As he strode through the passageways heading for the offices where he knew Eric would be lurking he tried to count the number of footsteps behind him. He hadn't expressed who was to follow him but he suppressed a satisfied smile as he counted for footfalls. He felt a strange pleasure at knowing Tris was following.

"So where have they transferred from" Eric asked in a cold voice as Four stood before him, presenting him with the disks. Cato and Clove hovered behind him a few paces and Tris and Uriah peered through the doorway, reluctant to enter the room.

Shit! Four cursed himself at Eric's simple question. How had he not even thought of that? Him mind raced as he tried to think of the best lie.

They couldn't be from Abnegation, he would be able to pick it in a second. Stiff's stood out like a burning building against everyone else. They couldn't be Amity either. More for safety's sake. An Amity in Dauntless was always going to be a target and he needed them to blend in as much as possible. Erudite was out of the question, Eric would know if they were Erudite. So it only left one option.

"Candor. They're both Candor born." As he said it Four decided this was probably fitting anyway. He recalled Clove's bluntness.

Tris knew he was lying, his voice didn't sound quite right. Eric stared intently at Four for several tense seconds. His black, beady eyes bore through him but Four held his gaze. He had had plenty of practice as staring down Eric's intimidation by now.

"Fine," Eric spat eventually. He shoved the gadgets back at Four without even scanning them.

"Eric," warned a voice from the other side of the office. Everyone turned to see a petite brunette woman leaning in the doorway and glowering at Eric. She nodded at the discs still in Eric's hand then looked towards the computers. Eric growled but obeyed her wordless instruction.

"Dani is this really necessary?" asked Four in a tight voice. He hated the woman almost as much as she distrusted him. "I have the Indentifications. What am I going to do? Make them up?" He rolled his eyes in what he hoped was an offhand way.

The woman, Dani gave him a penetrating look that clearly showed she thought he might do just that.

"Legit," snarled Eric, though Four was glad to see his anger was directed at Dani. He knew she was right but he didn't appreciate having his authority undermined, especially in front of Four. Eric snorted contemptuously and thrust the discs back at Four, turning away.

"They're your responsibility Four," he called over his shoulder as he disappeared out of the room. Dani stayed a moment longer, her arms crossed firmly and her eyes roaming over Cato and Clove. Four folded his own arms and stared her down till she sniffed and turned, disappearing from sight after Eric.

Four exhaled slowly and tried to regulate his thumping heart. After a moment of silence he turned to the four initiates.

"You're in. Now the hard part begins."


	7. Chapter 7: Training

**A/N: I have to admit, these next few chapter were pretty fun to write. I hope you enjoy reading them as much. -Lu**

CHAPTER SEVEN

Cato's POV

"This looks familiar," Clove muttered to Cato as she followed him into the room. They stopped in the doorway and surveyed the clusters of teenagers, _Initiates_ Four had called them. We're part of them now Cato reminded himself. There were two clear parties in the room. Three tall and cocky looking people leant against the far wall, eyeing off the others and laughing amongst themselves. The middle boy's gaze connected with Cato's and his mouth turned into a snarl. He was big, tall and broad, with dirty blonde hair. Cato glared back at him, not at all intimidated. He was just as big, and he felt safe betting much, much stronger and more skilled.

Clove led the way over to the other group, who were sitting against the opposite wall to the thugs. They were quite subdued by comparison but had been whispering since Cato and Clove had entered the room. Cato guessed they were the hot topic of discussion. Three boys and three girls. Cato immediately spotted Tris sitting next to a girl with hazel skin and who was staring at them without shame. He guessed that Tris had filled them all in on what Four had allowed her to say because no one asked who they were.

Cato and Clove had spent the night in a spare storeroom which Four had hastily set up with a few raggedy blankets.

"It'll have to do," he muttered as he tossed them the rags. "You'll join the other Initiates in the Transfer Dormitory tomorrow." To be honest Cato and Clove wouldn't have cared if they were sleeping on the ground. It felt like days since they had slept and the constant alertness had worn them both down. They had briefly discussed having one of them on watch but eventually decided to risk it. They had both been fast asleep within seconds of lying down.

In the morning they had both watched Four as he paced in front of them, trying to explain what was going to happen. He seemed surprised at how unworried they were when he described the training. On the contrary, at the mention of weapons and fighting, Cato and felt a flicker of his old spirit and bloodthirst again. It would never be the same, not with the images of his families bodies forever printed on his mind, but he had never known anything other than training and fighting. It was a part of his blood.

"Guys this is Cato and Clove, new initiates," Tris said when they stood awkwardly in front of the group. She stared at them with an edge of hostility that told Cato she clearly didn't trust them yet. He briefly wondered if Four had ordered her to help them blend in. "This is Christina, Will, Al, Edward and Myra," Tris said, pointing to each person in turn. The staring girl, Christina, flashed them a quick grin.

"Well this should be interesting she said." Cato couldn't figure out if she was being sarcastic or not.

"And who are they?" Clove asked, pointing across the room at the three thugs who were now eyeing their group with even more intensity.

"Hmph. Molly and Drew, and the blonde oaf in the middle is Peter," said Will, a sour expression on his face.

"Steer clear if you can," said Al quietly. He had been watching Cato and Clove with mild curiosity.

"Mmm..." murmured Clove in a tone Cato knew well. She had no intention of 'steering clear' Cato guessed. To be honest neither did he. It wasn't their style.

"Right move it!" barked Four as he strode into the room. "Here's today combat pairings." He marched over to a board and pull off a cloth, revealing pairs of names in a line. Cato's eyes spotted Clove's name first and he read the name next to it: Molly. Then his eyes flicked down the line till he found his own and he found himself grinning as he read the name: Peter. He looked at Four who met his gaze for a second with a stony expression, but Cato had a feeling that he had very deliberately paired them off.

"What sort of combat is it?" Clove hissed in Christina's ear.

"Hand to hand. No weapons allowed but feel free to play dirty. Especially against _them_," Christina spat, nodding in Molly's direction. Molly saw them looking. She nudged Drew and pointed at Clove. They both laughed cruelly. Cato tried to hide a smile as he heard Clove's low growl next to him. Oh they would be sorry they underestimated her.

"First up! Al and Drew!" shouted Four, getting their attention. They all moved back as Al and Drew moved into the centre of the room, eyeing each other warily. Cato leant against the wall and folded his arms, watching the fight in front of him. It was short. Drew had Al down on the ground with a face full of blood in 15 minutes. But Cato had all the information he needed on what sort of fighting this was and his mind was already racing with strategy and technique that had been drilled into him since he was seven.

"Good luck," mumbled a few people as Clove stepped forward to replace Al. She bounced slightly on the balls of her feet and Cato saw her small smile as she passed him. Uh oh he thought to himself.

Molly was clearly over confidant as she strolled casually into the centre of the room. She made a show of stretching her arms and even yawned. Clove stood perfectly still and glared at her, concentrating her aggression into a deadly point.

Cato heard a concerned whisper pass between Will and Christina. He could understand their concern. It looked back, Clove barely reached Molly's shoulders and she looked like a weakling. Even in the Arena people had underestimated her, thinking that without her knives she couldn't do anything. Stupid people. Stupid dead people. They had been trained in District 2. They didn't need weapons to kill.

Molly was the first one to make a move. She lunged forward, her fist poised to strike, but Clove darted under her outstretched arm and gave her a severe jab to the rib cage with her elbow. It sent Molly sprawling to the ground and Cato grinned at the rustle of surprise that rippled around the room. Molly bellowed and sprang back to her feet, though she was leaning to the side Clove had attacked. Bruised, if not broken, Cato thought with satisfaction. She lunged forward again. Clearly technique wasn't her style, she preferred to rely on brawn and intimidation. Clove pulled an almost identical move except she added a sharp knock to the jaw and tripped Molly as she toppled down, so she landed with a hard thud on her shoulder. As she moaned and cradled her left arm Clove placed one foot on her other wrist, her other foot poised over Molly's throat.

"Give up?" she asked coldly. With a grunt Molly attempted to grab at Clove's leg but she had been anticipating it and simply knocked her arm aside. There was a flurry of movement and blows and then Clove landed a punch which had Molly sprawled on her back, unmoving. Without smiling Clove stepped backwards. She didn't look at any of the others as she turned her back on Molly and sidled back to Cato, though every eye in the room followed her and quite a few mouths hung open.

"Wow," said Christina clearly in the silence. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"Good show," said another voice and all heads turned to where Eric was leaning in the doorframe. He nodded at Clove, who narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Looks like you've got some wild ones Four," Eric said with a grin before walking away.


	8. Chapter 8: Guns

CHAPTER EIGHT

Cato's POV

Cato watched the other fights with detached interest. He had already disappeared inside himself into the familiar zone of pre-combat. It felt good to slip back into the old mindset. He had probably lost the element of surprise now that Clove had showed her strength, and the way Peter was looking at him told him he would have to work a bit harder.

Tris managed to beat Myra with ease, though her fighting technique left a lot to be desired in Cato's opinion, and Christina lost to Edward, though she managed to walk from the circle herself which seemed like some achievement considering the pattern of fights.

"Next up!" called Four as he wrote down the result of Christina and Edward's bout. Cato curled his fingers in and out once and walked slowly into the centre circle. Peter puffed up his chest and strutted forward.

"Better watch it newbie," he called almost good naturedly. "You'll have to learn who's boss around here."

Cato ignored the taunt and stared straight at Peter. With satisfaction he saw the arrogant smile on Peter's face flicker for a second. It was back though as they faced each other across the circle and took their starting positions.

"Begin", said a quiet voice Cato distantly recognised as Four. Already everyone else in the room was slipping away and his concentration was focusing to the space around his opponent. Their movements seemed to slow as they prowled around each other, neither willing to make the first move, both knowing that the first move would be a failure. Pity he no longer underestimates me thought Cato dryly, it would have been fun to destroy him. He lost all concept of time as they slowly circled each other, it could have been only minutes or it could have been half an hour. Cato was completely tuned into his opponent's movements, every twitch of a muscle, every breath revealed to him the language of his opponent's fighting.

"C'mon Peter! Kill him!" came a loud cry from nearby. Peter's head didn't flick around at the noise as a lesser fighter's would have but Cato still pounced on the distraction he knew it would provide. He saw the flicker in Peter's eyes and knew that he had the briefest of seconds to make a move and he would have the advantage. He was able to land two rapid punches on Peter's body before he was forced to spiral away from his retaliating fist. He felt the sting of his knuckles with satisfaction and hoped that it was sevenfold on Peter's ribcage and jaw where his blows had landed. Now that the first move had been made the dance was a flurry of rapid blows. Peter was decent but he lacked finesse and Cato was able to land four times as many blows as he received. He barely felt the knock he received to the side of his head as he ducked under Peter's arm to pummel his torso. He knew where to hit for maximum damage, something Peter did not, and so with three rapid punches to the vulnerable spots under his ribcage Peter was on his knees, moaning as he tried to raise himself back to his feet. Without hesitation or mercy Cato raised his elbow. The old fire of combat was flooding through his brain and he momentarily forgot his newfound disdain for killing as Peter's eyes raised to his. He saw the hate burning there and as he dropped his elbow, catching Peter on the temple and knocking him out cold, he knew that he had just made himself his first enemy in this place, Dauntless.

...

"Good fighting initiates," Four remarked when they were all gathered around him after lunch. Molly and Peter lurked at the back of the group, nursing sore muscles and bruises. Cato and Clove had been well and truly accepted into Tris' friendship group and they stood amidst the chattering teenagers. Christina, who had latched onto Clove and had planted her between Tris and herself, was chattering away about her fighting style. Clove smiled politely every now and then but she was distracted by the hostility that was clearly radiating from Tris. Obviously their combat skill had done nothing to appease Tris' suspicion. Cato stood silently with Edward and Al, listening to the girls chatter with bewilderment.

"We will be revisiting weapons training this afternoon," Four declared loudly, clapping his hands together to get everyone's attention. Silence fell as they all looked towards him. "Good. Now, we will be starting with firearms and then moving onto knives." Cato's stomach dropped at the mention of guns but he saw Clove's head flick up at the mention of knives. She glanced across at Cato and although her expression didn't reveal anything he could see her eyes were bright with excitement.

"Pick a station, in pairs please!"Everyone rushed towards the line of tables which held the menacing black shapes of guns. Targets were lined up against the far wall. Cato moved reluctantly towards them, feeling his instinctive dread at the dangerous metal.

"No!" Four called striding towards them. "Tris you go with Clove. Will, you go with Cato."

Cato walked towards the station where Will stood, and looked across to the next station, locking eyes with Clove.

"Good luck," she mouthed at him with an anxious smile. He nodded.

"You can go first," Will said, nodding him towards the table. Like the others he treated Cato with a mixture of wariness and awe after his fight with Peter but he seemed friendly enough. Cato looked reluctantly at the gun sitting on the table. It was long and ugly and looked completely different to the limited knowledge he had of firearms.

He reached out a hand and wrapped his fingers around the cold metal. Lifting it up he was surprised at how light it felt. I can do this he thought to himself, how hard could it be really? If the numbskull Peacekeepers could use them surely he could.

He raised the gun and steadied it with his left hand and pointed it towards the target. Holding his breath he pressed down on the trigger. It clicked. Nothing happened.

"You need to put the magazine in," Will said quietly from behind him.

"Oh," said Cato, not understanding the words.

"Here." Will gently took the gun from his hands and showed him how to slide the row of ammunition into the gun. It clicked comfortably into place. "And you need to pull the safety back too." Will clicked the notch towards him. "Aim." He held the gun up before him. "And fire." He squeezed the trigger and a volley of deafening shots echoed around the room. Cato ducked slightly, instinctively. Luckily no one seemed to notice.

"You try," Will said when he had inspected his aim. He handed the gun to Cato who felt even more alarmed at the prospect of firing it now. But he took it without flinching and stood where Will had and aimed at the target.

"Exhale as you pull the trigger," Will said from behind him. Cato looked down the barrel towards the target and let the breath hiss passed his teeth. He exhaled and squeezed his fingers. The gun bucked in his hand but he was tensed enough and strong enough to be prepared for it. Once he had recovered from the noise again he focused on the target. He had actually hit it, nowhere near the centre, but there was a scattering of bullet holes around the middle ring.

"Not bad," said Four, who he realised had moved to stand behind him. "You're a natural." As he walked away Cato gingerly placed the gun back on the table. He felt a cold chill shiver up his spine. He wasn't sure he wanted to be a natural with this weapon. Its ferocity terrified him.


	9. Chapter 9: Knives

**A/N: Sorry for the long delay guys. Life got a bit on top of me. Thanks for everyone who's been reading and reviewing so far. x -Lu**

CHAPTER NINE

Cato's POV

"Let's see how much you've improved!" Four shouted down the line. "No warm ups. Start at this end, you get three throws each, everyone watches." The guns had been removed and the tables spread with an array of throwing knives. The initiates stood in a line, a target before each of them and three knives for each. Cato was glad to see the blades. They were much more in his comfort zone than the guns. He had first been taught to throw a knife at the age of six and, although he preferred his sword, the blades were comfortable in his hand. His joy at seeing them though would be nothing compared with Clove's though, he knew that. She was separated from him again by several people but he swore he could hear the excited buzz of her thoughts across the murmured conversations.

Eric was watching keenly from the door. As he moved into a position to watch down the line Four's eyes connected briefly with Cato's. He gave a slightly apologetic nod. Cato guessed that Four had to command this with Eric watching, he had to ask them to throw knives without any training, to show he had gave no special treatments for the newbies. That was alright, he didn't know that they had a secret weapon; Clove.

"Miserable as always Al," Four commented dryly, though his tone lacked the appropriate venom. Al dropped his head and shuffled backwards.

"Christina. Improvement...somewhat," he said as two of her knives flew into the edge of the target.

"Clove," Four nodded at her. She stepped forwards lightly, balancing the blades on her palm. Cato recognised the smile on her face. She stood slightly side on, her left leg forward and held the first blade up, at eye height. With a simple flick of her wrist she sent the blade spinning forward. There was complete silence in the room except for the soft thud as it hit the target. Oblivious to the awed silence around her Clove held up her second and third blades, and sent them spinning with deadly precision into the heart of the target to join the first. Lowering her throwing arm and tilting her head to the side she studied her handiwork, eventually giving a satisfied nod. Only then did she seem to realise the silence around her and she lifted her eyes to Four. He stared at her in silence, his eyes boring into her. Their gaze was broken by a slow clapping, echoing eerily in the silent room.

"Well well," called Eric, stepping forward. "_That_ was impressive."

"Yes. It was indeed," said Four slowly, spurring back into life. He shrugged his shoulders slightly like he was trying to shake something off.

"You may have found someone better than you Four," said Eric, a smile on his face as he walked up to them, but his voice full of venom. He strolled up behind Clove and leaned in over her shoulder as if he was looking at the target. Cato felt his muscles tense instinctively and he was watching Clove's face carefully. She didn't move a muscle but he saw her eyes flicker tellingly. He saw the tension in her body as Eric leant in too close but she stood her ground and Eric was the first one to move. He stepped backwards, the same scary smile on his face, and he looked at Four. "I'll leave you to it," he said pointedly. Four watched him with hard eyes all the way to the door and didn't move or speak till Eric had disappeared from sight. Like the rest of the initiates Cato stayed silent and watched Four.

"Right!" Four snapped suddenly, making most of them jump. 'Edward. You're up!" He looked passed Clove to Edward as if nothing had happened. Edward loped forward with his knives and lined himself up before the target. As he began to throw, the first one managing to hit the inner ring, Clove lifted her eyes to Cato and they shared a meaningful glance.

_You ok?_

_Course. Are you?_

_If you are._

* * *

"We can do this...can't we?" Clove asked him as they walked slowly back to the dorm rooms. The group had dispersed as soon as the training day was over and they had found themselves alone for the first time that day. The stuck close to the wall as they made their way across the Pit.

"We don't have a choice," Cato said. "What are our alternatives Clove?"

"We could run..." she said though her voice revealed how little she thought of this plan.

He didn't answer her but reached out and grabbed her by the elbow, pulling her back towards him. He pulled them both close to the railings overlooking the Chasm. The pounding water below gave them some privacy from being overheard.

He watched the frothing water for a few minutes. "This has to be home now," he said eventually.

"They'll make you fire a gun every single day Cato."

He looked down at her. Her eyes were bright, the flickering lights from the Pit reflected in their black surface and the gloom of the Chasm making them look sunken in shadows. She looked manic. She looked exactly how he felt, some strange and disturbing mixture of terrified and bloodthirsty. There was something about this place and the people. It was like home, and reminded him of all the bad things there, but it was also so different. One minute he thought they had landed themselves in another hell hole like the Capitol and their cruel games, and the next he let himself believe that maybe they could do it. Maybe there was a third option to death and running. Maybe they could stay, he and Clove, stay and become Dauntless and eventually the pretence of normality would actually become normality.

But he didn't want to trust that feeling. Hope? There was one thing he had learnt it was that hope was more dangerous than any other emotion.

"Then I'll fire a gun every single day," he said eventually, aware of her bright gaze on him.

* * *

He found it so difficult to get to sleep in the dormitory. It went against every instinct, natural and trained, to fall asleep, without a weapon and in a room that held friends, enemies and unknowns. He didn't trust any of them, with perhaps the exception of Clove. It seemed especially strange to him that they were all made to sleep together when there were clear rivalries. And dangerous rivalries. Cato wouldn't trust Peter as far as he could throw him.

It was in the hours of darkness where he lay sleeplessly on his bed and stared at the black that he did most of his thinking. It was then that he tried to wrap his head around the position they were in. During the day he and Clove barely managed to get a few moments to talk alone, and even when they did, she refused to rise to his prompts. He wanted to talk about what had happened, in the Games, in the Capitol, in their homes. He wanted to talk about where they were now. There were so many things that he didn't understand. He knew he wouldn't get answers from Four, even if he hadn't been worried about people overhearing.

His thoughts were interrupted by a muffled scream . Reflexively he sat bolt upright and stared around him into the darkness. His muscles remembered the years of training and the years of life or death. He didn't want to think about the number of times he had found himself in a situation where one lapse of concentration or wrong move would mean certain death.

He held his breath so he wouldn't miss the slightest noise. He didn't have to worry about that though. Another muffled scream met his ears and he swung his legs over the bed. He knew that voice.

"I'm s-sorry," he could barely make out the words between the sobs and the pillow.

"Who's dat?" someone else muttered from next to him. He saw a dark head lift slightly off a pillow and look around. He moved swiftly between the beds towards where he knew Clove was sleeping.

"I'm sorry I killed you!" He moved faster as Clove's words became clearer. He felt growing dread as he wondered what the people waking up around him would make of her words. They were doing so well at fitting in, but one wrong word or move, and he knew they would both be dead. Four was right. No one could no where they were from.

"Clove! Wake up!" he hissed in a whisper as he grabbed her shoulders and tried to shake her awake. They had both had nightmares enough in the weeks they had spent together in the woods. At first they had both pretended like they couldn't hear the other's screams but eventually that had changed. Comfort wasn't really his style but he had done his best. As had she.

Not tonight though. He was too worried about what was a stake to be delicate to her fears.


	10. Chapter 10: Nightmares

**A/N: I forgot to add this note on before. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. Especially to 265: you're often quite scarily close with your guesses or suggestions. Thanks for your enthusiasm. I'm glad people are enjoying the story. -Lu**

CHAPTER TEN

Clove's POV

Something was rustling in the trees but the darkness of night time prevented her from seeing more than a few meters in from. Clove spun around wildly, searching for the source of the noises which were sending a shiver up her spine. Low, pained voices moaned in and out around her as she spun. Just as she thought she had found their origin a new voice would creep out of the darkness behind her.

"Cato?" she called, desperately hoping it was a cruel joke he was playing on her. "Marvel?" It would be just like the two of them to think this was hilarious. She'd like to see how hard they laughed when she accidently sent one of her blades flying into their skulls because she thought they were prey.

Suddenly there was a massive cracking sound above her and she looked up in time to see a fork of piercing white lightning descending from the pitch black sky. It struck the tallest tree, meters from her, and engulfed her in a shower of white hot sparks. Screaming despite herself Clove threw her arms over her head and threw herself to the ground. As soon as she closed her eyes, her head buried in the dirt, a sudden, absolute silence descended around her. With a growing feeling of dread Clove lifted her head slightly. The forest was gone but it was still night time. She was lying on the floorboards of the kitchen in her old house in District 2, the slight glow from streetlamps outside creating spooky shadows in the otherwise darkened house. It was home but it inspired a feeling oc utter dread in her. Something was off.

"Hello?" she called. Her voice sounded strange in the silence and emptiness. It didn't sound like her at all. Too small. "Carolina?" She climbed to her feet and despite the uncomfortable churning of her stomach forced herself to walk towards the doorway of the living area.

With the last step she suddenly knew what she would find. Even though she knew, when her eyes fell upon the mutilated bodies spread across the room she couldn't help but scream and clamp a hand over her mouth.

"No!" Tears escaped down her cheeks. "Mama!" Clove wailed, collapsing onto her knees next to the nearest figure. Her hands hovered over the bloody clothes of the corpse. The face was almost unrecognisable.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," she sobbed. She knew this was a dream but she couldn't convince herself to fight it. The pain and the guilt got her every time and she lost all sense of reality.

Her eyes drifted passed the body before her to the next one. "Carolina." The words were a hopeless whisper. The monsters hadn't touched her face but her raven black hair streamed out behind her and mixed with her deep crimson blood which flowed from her skull. Clove curled up in a little ball between the two corpses and felt the sticky edges of pooled blood touch her skin.

She didn't want to do it anymore.

"Clove!" A sharp cry in her ear made her eyes fly open. The terror of her dream blurred with the terror she felt as a figure loomed over her, only slightly darker than the shadows around it. Her mouth opened in an involuntary scream but before she could a hand clamped over her mouth.

"Calm down. It's just me," Cato hissed, leaning in close. Her heart beat slowed slightly at the familiarity of his voice and the terror began to subside. As he realised she wasn't going to scream again he moved his hand. It was then that Clove remembered where she was; the initiates dormitory of Dauntless, a long way from home, from the massacre.

"What's going on?" mumbled a voice from nearby. Several beds creaked as people rolled over.

"Al is that you again?" said an exasperated voice, a girl.

Cato grabbed Clove's arm and hauled her into a sitting position. "Come on," he said shortly. He half carried her from the room as people muttered and flopped back in their beds. He didn't pause once they were clear of the doorway and dragged her down an unfamiliar corridor. Her teeth were chattering even though it wasn't cold.

"I'm sorry," she hissed finally, wrenching her arm out of his vice like grip and forcing him to stop. She slumped against the corridor wall and refused to move. "I'm sorry," she said again. He was looking at her in the dim light and she didn't want him to see the fear and pain that was still there so she hid her face behind her hands, concentrating on one breath in, one breath out. She wasn't going to cry, only pain and terror could force that from her, but she still hated how she felt weak. She hated that the strong, vicious, uncaring character she had carefully built all her life was slowly being destroyed. It had started with the Games and the needles of guilt that had crept in. She thought that once they left the Capitol and their terrible crimes behind it might get easier, but the memories wouldn't let go. She had been cruel and cold and vicious for as long as she could remember. She didn't know who she was without that character and it terrified her. She knew how to be a Career. She didn't know how to be Clove.

Eventually she lowered her hands, trusting herself enough to look up at meet Cato's eyes. He was leaning against the opposite wall of the corridor, watching her carefully. She couldn't read his expression and it annoyed her. She felt like all of her was on display and he still kept everything so well hidden.

With a nervous movement she rubbed her palms on her pants and concentrated on glaring at him. "What? What are you looking at?"

There was a flicker of a smile across his face at her venomous tone but it was gone so fast she wondered if she had imagined it.

"We have to be careful Clove..." he said softly, as if continuing a previous conversation.

She blinked at him incredulously for a few seconds but when she realised he was serious she set her jaw and glared at him. "What?" she said in a dangerously quiet voice.

He looked her dead in the eye and refused to be intimidated by her anger. "You almost gave us away. If any of them had been awake to hear what you said-"

"What did I say?" she demanded, a spark of curiosity taking over. He didn't answer, just kept looking at her, and she was suddenly forced to be the one to look away, to her disgust.

"Be more careful next time," he said simply, uncrossing his arms and standing up straight. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away, back towards the dorms. Clove stared after him in silent indignation for a few moments. With an angry scream she slammed her palm against the wall, wishing it was Cato's head. She couldn't go back now, and even if she could she didn't want to sleep.

With an angry huff she flopped back against the wall and stared at the ceiling, her mind running over all the reasons she hated Cato in that moment.

"Couldn't sleep?" A voice startled her from her murderous thoughts and her head flicked up. Four stood in the middle of the corridor, his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"Something like that," she muttered, resuming her study of the ceiling.

"Yeah. Me neither," he said simply. Wandering forwards he leant his back against the wall next to her and lifted his chin to stare at the ceiling too. As he moved to cross his arms Clove noticed his hands were shaking slightly. She turned her head to look at him properly. He was wearing a sweatshirt and track pants and his hair stuck up in tousles. He looked slightly pale, making the dark shadows under his eyes stand out more.

"Sleep is for the weak anyway," she said lightly, fairly certain in that moment that he had been woken by the terrors of his own mind too.

"Yeah," he agreed, his face twisting into a tight smile. He rolled his head against the wall to look at her. "And weak is certainly something you're not, are you Clove?" She couldn't decide whether there was a teasing note to his voice or not so she said nothing. "Mind you," he added, glancing away again. "I could still beat you at knife throwing though."

The confidence of his comment made her laugh out loud and he looked at her grinning, a challenge. "You've seen what happens to people who underestimate me," she said. She watched the recollection of Molly's fight flash in his eyes and felt a grim satisfaction at the impression she had left.

"We'll see about that," he said. He was definitely teasing now but he straightened from the wall and looked at her expectantly.

"Where are we going?" she asked, lifting herself from the wall. Her fear and anger were slowly fading as she felt a spark of familiar competitiveness.

"To the training room of course. So you can see just how much better than you I am."

Clove rolled her eyes contemptuously but followed him down the corridor laughing.


	11. Chapter 11: Anger

**A/N: As always thanks to those few of you who review. It really boosts my spirits. Someone said Tris had been a bit absent lately and I totally agree. As much as possible I'm trying to go around the four; Four, Cato, Clove then Tris, but sometimes events have to be from a certain characters POV. Nevertheless here is a Tris chapter. Enjoy.**

**PS. I feel really bad that I was getting all these compliments about fast updates and then lately I haven't been. I'm really sorry guys. I went home for a while and left my plot plan in the city so I couldn't write without it. But now I hope to be back to quick updates. -Lu**

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Tris' POV

Tris plonked herself down between Will and Christina and placed her chin glumly in her hands. While Christina looked at her questioningly over her cereal bowl Tris tried to stifle a yawn.

"Didn't sleep?" asked Will kindly.

"Not much," Tris confessed. To be honest she had spent most of the night tossing and turning. She couldn't wrap her head around everything that had happened lately, and she hated that she didn't have anyone to talk to about it. She couldn't tell Will or Christina, Four and forbidden it, and he himself had been completely unapproachable. Not that she could have contemplated having a deep confession session with him anyway. Still, it bugged her. She knew there were parts of the story he wasn't telling her, telling them, and she felt like she needed to know. He had asked her to trust him, to trust the two strangers he had placed her with, and he wouldn't tell her why. She did trust him, completely, but that wasn't the point. Still, that trust didn't necessarily extend to the two intruders, Cato and Clove. It was with growing apprehension and wariness that she had watched them during training. They could fight. But it was more than that. The loved to fight. She had seen the gleam in Clove's eyes after she had floored Molly and it unsettled her.

They had been paired together by _him_ for gun training and Clove had been completely clueless and somewhat terrified of the weapons, but she still showed unnerving skill. Tris disliked the way the boys eyes studied her too. She had caught him looking a few times and there was a hardness to his gaze which made her stomach twist uncomfortably. She didn't understand them, and she didn't like that.

"Did you guys hear anything last night?" Tris asked the group casually, not lifting her head to look any of them in the eye. She wondered if anyone else had been awake to hear the whispered conversation between Cato and Clove when she had had a nightmare She had heard them leave, and then she had heard Cato come back. She knew it was him because of his footsteps, but she was fairly certain Clove hadn't been with him. Maybe he chucked her in the Chasm she had found herself thinking, and then scolded herself harshly for the flare of grim delight that thought brought her. What is wrong with you Tris? This isn't you.

Sure enough when she had risen in the morning Clove's bed had been empty. Briefly, accidently, her eyes had connected with Cato but she broke the gaze quickly and left the room. She didn't want to invite him to study her with those piercing blue eyes any more than he already did.

"Mmm sort of. Someone woke me up," Christina said through a mouthful of food. "I assumed it was Al."  
"Maybe," Tris said carefully. She didn't know why she lied. Something instinctive was warning her to keep what she had heard to herself. There was no logical reason why she couldn't tell the others she knew who had had a nightmare, but still she found herself wanting to change the topic.

"Are you practicing for a race or something?" Will asked dryly, changing the topic before Tris could. She looked up to see him grinning playfully at Christina, who glared at him with her mouth full. She swallowed and pretend growled at him.

"I'm hungry alright." Her tone was all that of a sulky child and Tris couldn't help but grin. The smile faded on her lips though as she spotted two figures walk through the door. Four held the door open for Clove, who slipped through under his arm. Tris watched with narrowed eyes, she didn't even realise she was doing it, as they shared a quick glance before walking off to opposite sides of the room; Four to sit with the other Dauntless and Clove to slip into a seat beside some Dauntless initiates. They hadn't exchanged a word but Tris had gathered enough. Clove hadn't gone back to the dormitory last night.

She hated the way her stomach dropped as the thoughts fell into place in her head. She glanced down at the table to hide her expression and glared at the wooden surface, willing the tears to stay away. She felt sick. Beatrice Prior, she said firmly in her mind, stop this right now. You have no reason to feel...what? Jealous? Angry? Hurt?

"...heeeey Tris," pestered Christina, waving a hand in front of her face and interrupting her thoughts.

"Yeah?" Tris asked, blinking furiously to hide the tears that wanted to fall and hoping her voice didn't reveal too much emotion. Christina pulled up short and stared at her.

"What's wrong?" she demanded, her previous comments forgotten.

Damn. Bloody Candor and their ability to read you like a book. She should have known better than to think she could hide the swirl of emotions currently raging inside her from Christina. Still, she had to try.

"Nothing," she blinked again and gave them a small smile. "Just tired."

Christina pursed her lips together and stared at her with narrowed eyes for a moment.

"Fine," she said eventually, though Tris had a feeling she still didn't believe her. "Well, we were asking if you wanted to practice knife skills with us this afternoon. Will here thinks he can beat me."

"I don't think I-" Will began.

"Yeah yeah you _know_," Christina interrupted, rolling her eyes. But a grin split across her face as she looked at him. Tris dearly wanted to join in on their play fighting but she shook her head quickly.

"Sorry guys. I don't really feel like it today." She didn't really want to think about knives at the moment, for two reasons.

"Well don't mope in the dormitory all afternoon," Christina said, climbing to her feet.

"I won't," Tris promised, though to be honest she had no idea what she was going to do with their several hours of spare time. Her eyes drifted across the room to where Four sat with his back to her. As if he felt her gaze on him he turned slightly, looking over his shoulder. Quickly she dropped her eyes back to the table so she didn't know whether he had seen her looking or not. Determinedly keeping her eyes away from his side of the room she gathered her plate and hurried after Christina and Will.


	12. Chapter 12: Attacked

**A/N: Some more Tris for everyone. The game is changing...**

CHAPTER TWELVE

Tris' POV

She sat on a small rocky ledge several feet above the ground and out of sight of the Pit. She could hear the rumble of the Chasm and the occasional shouting voice from the large room.

Closing her eyes Tris leaned her head against the wall and counted her breaths. She didn't really feel like being around anyone else at the moment but being here with her own thoughts was almost as bad. That mornings training had been awful.

The fighting techniques themselves they'd learnt had been find, and they hadn't actually had to fight each other, but she hated how aware she was of every move Four made. She felt like even with her back turned she could sense him enter the room or move. It had been almost painful to try and not look at him. She had no reason to feel the anger she did, so she kept reminding herself, but it didn't stop her from wanting to hiss every time he came near. Perhaps he had sensed it because he had almost completely ignored her. Don't flatter yourself Tris, a mean little voice in her head said. It wasn't because he sensed anything. It was because he doesn't care. You don't mean anything to him, why should you?

Tris was so wrapped up in her twisting thoughts that she didn't hear the sound of approaching footsteps or the gasp of cruel delight as Peter spotted her sitting alone. She didn't even know he was there until she was wrenched from the ledge and shoved up against the wall.

"Well, look who it is all alone," Peter hissed in her face. The initial shock began to wear off and she kicked out at him viciously. Her foot connected with his kneecap and he gave an infuriated grunt and shoved her against the wall again.

She resisted the urge to cry out, not wanting to give him that satisfaction, but she was just realising what a stupid position she had put herself in. Being out of sight and out of hearing of everyone else was great if you wanted to think. But it was also great if you wanted to get attacked without anyone there to help you.

"Get off me Peter!" she snapped at him, trying to sound braver than the fear that was coursing through her mind. She gave him another kick but it was useless, he had moved out of the way of her legs.

"Oh is the little Stiff scared?" he sneered, his fingers digging painfully into her skin where he pinned her to the wall.

"No one's scared of a brainless idiot like you," she spat. Certainly not my Abnegation talking there she thought dryly. Suddenly several things happened at once. Peter gave a harsh cry and his hands disappeared from her arms and she dropped to the ground. She landed with a thump in a chaotic heap at the base of the wall but was already struggling to her feet, her arms raise defensively.

"What the hell!" Peter shouted, spinning around, away from her.

"Sorry. I was aiming for your head and I missed," Clove said sarcastically. She glared at him, her fists balled into angrily. Tris blinked in surprise at the sight of her but took Peter's distraction to dart forward and give a sharp kick to his knees. His leg buckled and he yelped as he half fell to the ground. His eyes flew angrily to Tris as he held his leg but he didn't move towards her.

"Don't call me Stiff," she hissed at him.

With a mixture of wariness and anger Peter's eyes flicked madly between Tris and Clove. Clearly he decided the odds weren't in his favour because he spat on the ground at Tris' feet and quickly loped away.

"Crazy bitches," Tris heard him mutter. She grinned at the sight of him limping away out of sight.

"You alright?" Clove asked, eyeing Tris warily and keeping her distance. Tris noticed her stance was still defensive. Perhaps she trusts me as little as I trust her Tris thought.

"Yeah," she said, rubbing her arm self-consciously. "Hey. Thanks."

Clove smiled grimly and looked down the corridor in the direction Peter had disappeared. "I don't like him much. He reminds me of someone..." she trailed off thoughtfully.

"Why would you help me?" Tris blurted out, her curiosity taking over her residual anger, and her assumptions about Four momentarily forgotten.

Clove shrugged, not looking at her and not giving her an answer. Tris took a deep breath. Maybe I should have gone to Candor she thought absently to herself as she spoke again, the words escaping against her better judgement.

"Last night...where were you?"

Clove looked at her sharply, frowning. Did she think she'd gotten away with it?

"I...couldn't sleep. I went to the training room, threw some knives."

"Alone?" Tris had no idea where her brutal interrogation was coming from.

"No," Clove said slowly, frowning at Tris, clearly confused as to why she cared. "With Four. He thought he could beat me and-"

"Won't Cato get jealous?" Tris interrupted bluntly. Was this twisting the proverbial knife? Huh. Ironic.

A dark look flickered across Clove's eyes. Hit a nerve thought Tris but she was beginning to doubt herself. Clove seemed sincere and despite herself Tris believed her. Some part of her was beginning to ask whether she was being fair. What if she had it wrong?

"Why would you think that?" Clove asked, lifting her chin defiantly, turning the question back on Tris.

Tris, caught by surprise, shrugged. "I don't know. You two seem...close. And if you're hanging out with Four..." she trailed off, not sounding as fierce as she wanted to as her conviction almost flickered out under Clove's hard gaze.

"We practiced knife throwing," Clove said coldly, clearly and slowly. Tris felt herself redden with embarrassment, knowing that Clove wasn't making it clear for the sake of her own defence. She was telling Tris in very firm words that nothing happened.

"Oh." Tris didn't know what else to say. She glanced at the ground. An uncomfortable silence stretched between them and she wondered if maybe she should go. She believed Clove and now she was kicking herself for what she had thought. And she was kicking herself for caring so much.

Suddenly, with a sigh Clove walked towards her and took a seat on the ground next to Tris, her back leaning against the wall."Cato wouldn't care anyway," Clove said eventually, playing with a hole in her sleeve.

After a beat Tris slid down the wall to sit next to her. "What are you two anyway?" she asked, her curiosity raising its head again.

Clove giggled, and it sounded strange, the sound of laughter from someone not disposed to it. Tris wouldn't have picked her as the type to giggle and she wondered how long it had been since she had properly laughed. "Who knows," Clove said, sadness replacing her smile.

"I don't really understand any of this," Tris said honestly.

"Me neither," Clove admitted.

"Yeah but...where you're from...I don't..." the thoughts formed into a jumbled sentence which she couldn't finish.

Clove nodded slowly. "I don't understand either," she repeated. "Who knew this- any of this- existed." She looked up at the ceiling.

Tris glanced around them. She knew they were alone but it still felt dangerous to talk about it in the open. She couldn't forget the fierceness that had blazed in Four's eyes as he had made them promise not to breathe a word. Even though she barely understood anything, the fear in his expression had been enough to convince her of the seriousness of the situation. She hadn't imagined he was scared of anything before that.

"Who does Peter remind you of?" Tris asked suddenly, changing the topic on a whim as the thought flashed into her mind.

Clove jolted at the question, she hadn't been expecting it, and looked at Tris frowning.

"You hated me before," she said simply, ignoring Tris' question. "What's changed?"

It was Tris' turn to react and she dropped her eyes with embarrassment, biting her lip. "I assumed certain...things," she muttered.

"You were jealous, weren't you?" Tris moved to defend herself but as she looked up she realise Clove was grinning mischievously. She was teasing her.

"Yeah," Tris admitted, smiling back. It was so strange to have this conversation. For the first time she considered Clove as a person just like her, not as a threat, or a rival. And for the first time she was overtaken with a profound curiosity.

"Who is it?" she pressed seriously. Clove frowned at her in confusion. "Who is it Peter reminds you of?"

Clove clearly didn't like being the one interrogated. She glared down at the ground and kicked at the floor with her shoe but Tris kept an intense gaze on her, unrelenting. "My brother," Clove muttered eventually. "He was cruel like that. Cruel and stupid."

"A dangerous combination," Tris murmured and Clove nodded in agreement. "Where is he?" she asked. She sensed that it was a touchy subject from the way Clove wouldn't look at her but her curiosity was getting the better of her and she didn't think an opportunity like this would happen again soon.

"At home." Clove said the words with a bitterness that surprised Tris. She had expected him to be dead from the sadness on her face. Tris opened her mouth to ask another question but Clove climbed to her feet before she could.

"Well. I'm going to go. Don't get yourself attacked again alright?" she said simply, not meeting Tris' eyes. Tris gazed up at her from the floor as she began to walk away.

"Hey Clove," she called after her suddenly, a thought striking her. Warily Clove turned around.

"Did you beat him? Four. Did you beat him at knife throwing?"

Clove paused a moment before giving a small, poignant smile. "Of course." She turned away again and walked away.

Tris found herself smiling as she walked back to the Pit.


	13. Chapter 13: Storytime

CHAPTER THIRTEEN- Storytime

FOUR POV

Four stormed angrily into the training room where Tris was determinedly throwing knives at the target. Clove was lounging against one of the walls, watching her with her arms crossed. It took Four a second to notice her there, and at first he stopped short when he saw Tris, their eyes locking.

"Tris-" he said, momentarily forgetting his anger.

She coloured slightly and glanced down at the knife in her hand, rolling it over with her fingertips. "We were just um..practicing...getting some advice," she mumbled, waving in Clove's direction, who had walked towards them. She raised her eye brows at Four in a question and he nodded curtly, embarrassed to have stumbled over seeing Tris.

"Good you're here. Where's Cato? I need to talk to you all."

"I'll get him," Clove murmured, slipping from the room before he could stop her. He was left standing, facing Tris, who was still studying the ground with interest.

Four cleared his throat, crossing and uncrossing his arms. "I heard about Peter," he said eventually. "Are you alright?"

Tris gave him a sharp look. "Who told you?" She shook her head dismissively. "I'm fine anyway. I can handle him."

Four found himself smiling. "Yeah..." he said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sure you can."

They looked at each in awkward silence for a few moments and he was both glad and angry when he heard the others return. He turned to look at them. "Close the door," he ordered, his seriousness returning as he remembered why he had called them together.

"What's going on?" asked Cato, standing defensively, but Four could read the nervousness in the way his eyes flicked over each of them.

"I've just come from the Fence." Cato and Clove exchanged an anxious look but Tris looked blank.

"So?" she said, frowning, clearly not understanding.

"It's where I found these two," he said, not looking at her but nodding towards Cato and Clove. "And there's been trouble."An uneasy silence filled the room. Clearly no one wanted to ask what sort of trouble. Four sighed and took a seat on one of the old tables. "A machine was seen in the forest yesterday...a floating machine. It had weapons attached but it was like nothing any of us have ever seen." As he said it he kept a close eye, watching Cato and Clove's reaction. They gave him back a blank gaze. "Luckily, it was only seen by Dani and one other Dauntless. They know the value of keeping these things secret, but they told me just now. What I want to know is..." he stared them both down, "...was it looking for you?"

There was a beat of silence as Tris gazed curiously at them, and Four's eyes bore into Cato's, who was giving him nothing.

Suddenly Clove spoke, drawing everyone's attention to her. Even Cato's head flicked around. "Yes. It would be a Capitol hovercraft and it would have been looking for us," she said in a cold voice.

Four exhaled slowly and placed his fingers to his forehead, closing his eyes.

"What does it mean?" Tris asked nervously, glancing between them. Eventually Four looked up at her, his expression grim.

"It means," he said in a tired voice. "That it's time we swapped stories."

...

"Do you trust me?" Four asked the two of them, his gaze steady. They hesitated a beat before both nodding. He wasn't sure if they were being sincere but he had to work with that he got. "Okay. I need you to answer my questions as best you can." They nodded again, staring at him silently. He could see the tension in their bodies. Tris was hovering nervously behind him. He could practically feel the waves of anxiety rolling off her. "Tris sit down. You're freaking me out," he ordered, though gently. She slipped into a spot on the floor next to where he sat leaning against the wall. As he looked back at Clove and Cato he tried to brush from his mind the thought of how close her arm was to his. He had to focus.

"You say you escaped from the Capitol?" he began. Clove nodded. "Why did you have to escape?"

"It's a complicated story," Cato said hesitantly. Four gave him a look that said 'try me' and he sighed. "We went against the Capitol rules. We...mean something special to them...and we disobeyed their rules. They..." he trailed off, and glanced at Clove.

"They took their revenge," she finished for him, perfectly expressionless. "And we had nothing left to stay for. So we ran."

More silence filled the room. "This place you come from? How is it run?" Four asked eventually. "Is it the same as here?"

"You guys didn't know about Factions when you came though, did you?" Tris interjected. Four glanced at her, one swift glance, to see she had her knees drawn up under her chin, her eyes large and staring at Cato and Clove.

"No. We don't have Factions," said Cato. "There are twelve Districts. Each is responsible for an industry and is isolated from the others by fences and guards."

"We are- _were_- from District 2...masonry," added Clove, stumbling slightly over the words. She cleared her throat slightly and glanced at her lap. "Officially our industry was masonry. But we were responsible for training the military as well."

"So that explains those evil knife skills," Tris said, actually grinning. "And how you beat Peter?" she added, looking at Cato who nodded.

"Well, not quite..." said Clove hesitantly. "We weren't trained as part of the military...this is where it gets complicated. Um...there's also the Capitol, the central district in charge of everything. Every year they run something called The Hunger Games. Two young people from each district are chosen or volunteer-"

"Like us," interrupted Cato.

"-yeah, like us, to um...compete in the Games." She was twisting her hands nervously in her lap and Four could tell there was a lot more to the story that she was reluctant to tell them.

"I need you to be honest with me," he said seriously.

"I am being honest!" shot Clove, anger flaring across her features. She scowled at him.

"What did you have to do in the Games?" Tris asked, leaning forward, her curiosity breaking the tense moment. Four noted with amusement that she was leaning forward and watching the other two like she was waiting for the end of a good bedtime story. Maybe he should make them all cocoa.

There was a visible moment of hesitation from the other two which made Four's anxiety rise slightly. What were they so reluctant to reveal? Eventually Clove sighed defeatedly.

"Fine. 24 people competed in the Games. Only one was meant to survive. It was a fight to the death." She said it all very fast and without a drop of emotion. Tris stared at her open mouthed and Four felt his whole body stiffen. _That_ was what was on the outside? A world that forced teenagers to kill each other?

He let the silence stretch as he thought about the information. He had hoped that there was a better life on the outside for them all, something away from Factions and the growing storm of dissent between them. He had known really, as soon as he found Cato and Clove and knew where they came from, that his hopes were misplaced. He had just wanted to be proven wrong.

"So...you've killed people?" Tris asked eventually, clearly hesitant. Her eyes were no longer gleaming with curiosity. She looked down right horrified. The thought made Four's heart skip. He was glad she didn't know what he had done in the past.

Clove lifted her shin defensively. "Yes."

"What's the aim of making people kill each other?" Four asked.

Cato exhaled slowly and narrowed his eyes in anger. "They do it for control, and entertainment, but mostly control."

"Entertainment?" exclaimed Tris is horror. "How can killing people be entertaining?"

"The Capitol make a big show out of it. They have interviews with the tributes, and there are parades. And then the Games are televised all over the country. People place bets...Cato and I had the lowest odds," Clove added with a small amount of pride in her voice. Cato glared at her.

"What do you mean control?" Four demanded, ignoring the glare. He didn't care about the entertainment. Why would they need to stage killing Games for control?

"The Districts rebelled years ago. The Games are designed to remind them that they are at the Capitol's mercy," Cato replied with bitterness. His fingers curled into fists in his palms. "We're all at the Capitol's mercy."

Tris bit her lip and leant back against the wall with a thump. She looked at Four with wide eyes, waiting for him to say something. He frowned and pressed his palms to his forehead, blocking out their insistent gazes for a moment. He needed to think.

There seemed to him to be three main questions. One: did the Capitol know about them hidden away here? Two: If so, what was their motivation in locking them all up behind the Fence. Three: Regardless of if they knew, were they all at risk from the Hovercraft that had arrived at the Fence.

The fact that it had arrived at all seemed to imply that the Capitol know about them. Perhaps they thought, accurately as it turned out, that the runaways had made it all the way to Chicago. But that could only be a guess, surely.

"Is there any way they could know you're here?" he asked, his hands still to his face.

There was a moment pause. "No," Clove said eventually. "They probably think we died in the woods."

"But they can't be sure. That's why they sent the Hovercraft, as you called it," he said, finally moving his hands and looking up at them. They looked back at him nervously, their silence confirming his point.

"Okay," he sighed. "It seems there's nothing we can do about it if they do think you're here. I'll keep my eyes open on the official side. You need to keep your heads down." He looked at Tris. "All of you." There was a silent pleading in his words. He didn't want to put her in any sort of dangerous situation but he feared they were all in one now.


	14. Chapter 14: Chasm

**A/N: First off let me just apologise deeply and profoundly for my lack of updates. I was well aware of all the reviews and messages begging me to update and I appreciate every single one of you who have read and reviewed so far. Life got in the way and there was some pesky writers block invovled too. But I was determined to return to this story. So I am sorry. I hope you can all forgive me for abandoning you for a while. Just know that even if there are large gaps again I will _always_ return to this story. I promise. I plan to see it to the end no matter what. -Lu**

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

All four of them spent the next few days anxiously waiting for something to happen. If they hadn't been getting much sleep before then they sure as hell weren't now. Four spent most nights pacing around and around his little room, desperately trying to fit all the pieces together. He felt like he just wasn't placing them in the right order, or there was one tiny chunk missing. If only he could see it all clearly he knew it would begin to make sense.

Tris lay awake in the dorms, tossing and turning and listening to the sounds of Cato and Clove do the same. When she heard one of them rise almost every night, and pace outside, she would pretend to be asleep. The other would always follow. She wondered what it was like to be simultaneously so alone and to have someone you trusted so much. She wasn't jealous as such, she still wasn't quite capable of such emotion, but she wondered.

CATO POV

It was one of those nights that found Cato following Clove outside. He followed a short distance behind her, following but not following, as she headed for what the Dauntless called the Chasm. It was a place they both liked. There was something about the fierceness of the turbulent water, the promise of near death that was familiar and strangely comforting to both of them. It was a place that had the comforting violence and mercilessness of home.

When he arrived Clove had taken a seat on the ground at the edge of the great drop, her legs dangling over the edge and nothing but the railing she was leaning on the keep her from dropping. When they'd first been caught sitting there- thinking nothing of it- it had gained them instant respect among the other Dauntless. Neither of them could quite work out why. They were only sitting after all.

"Boo," he said flatly as he paced up behind her and slipped his legs through the railing to take a seat next to her. She turned to look at him, completely unstartled.

"Hey." They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the rhythmic pounding of the water below them. Occasionally the ground beneath them would shake as a wave smashed into the rocks, splintering itself into a million droplets that rained up over the edge, coating them both in a fine mist. He ran a finger along the metal railing next to his hand, collecting the water drops that sat there. The railing was icy cold under his touch.

"What do we do?" Clove's voice startled him from his deep contemplation of the water droplets and he looked up to see her looking straight at him. He'd known this conversation was going to have to happen sooner or later. They couldn't keep existing like this. Every one of them could feel it. Things were changing and something was going to happen. He wasn't sure what but something.

For two people who had been trained to think that attack was the best defence, they weren't inclined to just sit and wait for whatever it was to happen to them. He shrugged his shoulders. "Stay or go, I guess," he said more calmly than he felt.

She nodded. It wasn't a new suggestion. It was all there was, they both knew that. Stay, and risk whatever was happening in this unfamiliar and alien place, or go, and risk whatever was happening in the cold and cruel place they called home. It was a difficult choice.

They lapsed into silence again for a few moments, both lost in their own tangle of thoughts. "I don't think I can go back," Clove said eventually. She turned her head to look at him again and he was lost in her eyes. "Whatever happens here, it can't be worse than there...can it?"

The question hung in the air between them. That was the heart of the matter after all. Which was the lesser of two evils? He couldn't help but feel that they were being forced to choose between two deaths; one here or one there. But he shook his head. There was no reason yet to know they would die here. He wasn't much accustomed to hoping, but he had to this time. There waited certain death- death and memories- and here waited only possible death. He voiced this thought aloud and Clove looked glum, but nodded.

"...and they have guns," he added dubiously. This actually inspired a cold and strained laugh from Clove. She smirked at him in a way she used to...before.

"Yeah, guns which you're terrified of using," she teased. It was easy to fall back into a pattern of banter. It was comforting, almost like old times in the Training Centre.

"Hey!" he said indignantly, giving her a gentle shove. "I am not terrified. And at least I'm better than you with them."

She retaliated his shove with a punch to the shoulder that he barely felt. "Yeah but I have my knives. Haven't you noticed? There's a serious lack of swords around here."

He had to admit that her logic was flawless. For him it was going to have to be guns, fists, or nothing. Unable to come up with an adequate comeback he gave her hair a playful tug, just enough to irritate slightly but not enough to actually hurt her. She growled and he laughed.

If he ignored the cold mist around them, and the rumble of the earth shaking beneath them, and the ever present anxiety nagging at the pit of his stomach, he could almost believe they were back home before they had entered the Arena. He could almost believe they were back in the Training Centre, as always the last two to leave. He could almost believe that it was just another time they were fighting- arguing, scratching, biting, tugging, hissing and growling that somehow seamlessly turned from battle to fierce kissing and a desperate need to feel the other's skin against their own. He looked across at Clove sadly and knew from the look in her eyes and the smile that was fading from her lips that she was thinking the same thing.

"Stay then?" he said simply.

She looked even more miserable than before. "Stay."

There was no point going back to the dorm. Between their anxiety and the nightmares there was no way either of them was going to get to sleep. So they stayed sitting looking out at the Chasm until they heard the distant sounds that meant the Dauntless headquarters was waking. Another day. Another day of waiting and wondering what was going to happen. Another day of sharing quick, anxious glances with Tris across the training room. Another day of seeing the doubt and worry in Four's eyes as he tried to teach them all whatever it was they were meant to be learning.

"Wonder what we're doing today," Cato mused aloud as they climbed stiffly to their feet. Their clothes were slightly damp from the mist that had settled around them but he barely noticed the discomfort. Clove mumbled an answer as she turned and began to walk back towards the dorms.

He reached out a hand and tugged her to a stop. She looked startled until she saw the look in his eyes.

"Clove..." he began, releasing her arm. "Remember, if we die-"

"-we die together." She nodded, repeating the words they had told each other in the Arena. It wasn't a very comforting thought but right now it was the best they had.


	15. Chapter 15: Fear 1

**A/N: So I seemed to have lost a few of you with the lack of updates. I probably deserve that but regardless here is en extra long juicy chapter (and the next one will be too!) for you to enjoy. I must say they were awfully fun to write so hopefully they're as fun to read. -Lu**

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Fear Part 1

CATO POV

Training that day, it seemed, was going to be different. They were led into a corridor with everyone and forced to sit and wait. Everyone threw anxious glances at each other, lined up on either side of the corridor. He sat opposite Clove and he couldn't help but be reminded of the last time he was in an enclosed space in two lines of nervous teenagers. Then he had been in a Hovercraft on his way to the Arena with 23 other kids- 22 of which he planned to slaughter. It brought back bad memories so he sat with his hands balled into fists and his jaw clamped so hard it ached.

He wondered if Clove was remembering the same things but he couldn't ask her with everyone around them and she just stared blankly ahead of her, and no matter how hard he tried to catch her eye she seemed to be seeing straight through him.

People began getting called into a room at the end of the corridor. They disappeared one by one, and they didn't come back. He was getting increasingly nervous, and if it hadn't been for the fact that Four was the one holding the door open to them each time, he would have been out of there a long time ago. There were three other people left in the corridor when his name was called by Four. He stood up and threw one last glance at Clove. This time she seemed to have snapped out of her trance because she met his eyes with a voiceless message of encouragement.

It was enough to send him walking forward with a straight back and his head up, his old confidence returned. Four led him into a small room with a chair and began to explain what he was about to do. The words washed over Cato as he took a seat. He didn't understand this technology and Four knew that no matter how much he explained it, it wasn't going to help.

"Just trust me," he said eventually. They locked eyes for a moment and Cato nodded tersely once, leaning back and watching as Four inserted a needle into his arm. Sixty seconds was all it took and he woke up in the middle of his worst nightmare.

He was back in the Arena.

It was so real he could feel the breeze cool against his skin and the weak rays of the fake sunlight. This was more than a dream. He spun in a frantic circle looking around him and only then did he realises he had his sword in his hand. It felt comfortable and heavy. He'd forgotten what it felt like to have his favourite weapon in his hand again and a surge of power rushed through him. It quickly disappeared when figures emerged out of the trees all around him. They were children. Some were people he knew from home, some were kids he'd actually killed in the Arena, and two were so familiar it was painful. Two of them were his little brother and sister. His eyes lingered on their faces for an impossibly long time. He couldn't tear himself away from the last time he saw them- cold and lifeless and covered in blood.

"What do you want?" he said in a loud voice, spinning in a slow circle to see they had surrounded him. They blinked back at him silently- accusingly.

"I want you to kill them," said a cold voice and he spun back to see the small but terrifying figure of President Snow stepping out of the trees to stand behind his brother and sister. "I want you to kill them all," he repeated and his lips curled into a cruel smile.

Cato shook his head. "No," he said firmly. He wouldn't do it again. "NO!" he shouted, tossing his sword to the ground.

Snow clucked his tongue impatiently, as if he was disappointed with Cato's answer and he reached out, gripping Aurora and Caius by the back of the neck. They didn't even flinch as his hands touched them, just kept staring at him silently like all of the children. "You kill the others or I kill these two," Snow said in an even tone, his eyes boring into Cato with a cruel intensity. He was playing his favourite game. Cato felt that old fear wash through him. His heart was slamming in his chest and his mouth felt dry. He licked his lips and looked down at the sword. Ever so slowly he bent down and picked it up. It didn't feel good in his hand any more. It felt too heavy and awkward.

He looked around him, his eyes running over the faces of the children, before looking back at his little brother and sister. They were dead. He'd seen them cold and dead on the floor and no matter how much he wanted it he could never bring them back. None of it was real because he knew they were dead. He took a step forwards, closer to them, his eyes fixed on their faces. "Okay..." Cato said softly and Snow's eyes shone with triumph. He smiled again. Cato took another step until he was close enough to all three of them to reach out and touch their faces. He desperately wanted to but he stopped himself. They were dead they were dead they were dead. This thought repeated over and over in his mind as he lifted his sword. He saw the cold delight in Snow's eyes as he thought he was about to witness Cato begin his slaughter. It was Cato's turn to take pleasure as he saw the delight turn to confusion and then a moment of fear as Snow saw the sword come down towards him. Whatever emotion he was feeling was cut short as Cato's sword plunged through his chest.

The trees and the children dissolved around him and he threw one last longing look at his brother and sister before they too disappeared into nothing.

Suddenly he was grabbed from behind. She shouted out but a hand was placed over his mouth. He couldn't see who it was who was attacking him but they wrestled him to the ground, face down, and he felt the harsh bite of rope around his wrists. Then there was something over his eyes and something being stuffed into his mouth and everything was cut off from him. All that was left was the rub of the ropes being strung around his body, preventing any movement, and the sound of his attacker's ragged breathing. Then there was silence and he was flipped onto his back. He wriggled but the ropes didn't allow him to move even an inch. He was tied down. Panic began to rise in his chest. It was like a repeated nightmare of his childhood where people were coming at him with weapons and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't move. He was frozen in place.

Then he heard it- the screaming. It ripped through the air around him and he struggled again desperately against the ropes that bound him. The screaming was piercing and desperate and far too achingly familiar. The noise turned into his name.

"Cato! CATO!"

He tried to shout out against the cloth in his mouth but he could barely make a noise. He was truly powerless as the scream echoed around him, ripping painfully through his mind. He knew that voice and he knew that scream. He remembered hearing it through the trees of the Arena, his head whipping around and every nerve in his body tensed. Then he had been able to race as fast as his legs would carry him to her but now he could not move and he had to lie there and suffer the terror in Clove's voice as she cried out desperately for him. He tried to block out the screams. He knew it wasn't real. He got there in time, he saved her. He did, he did. He brought up a picture of the Arena- the tall grass and the sun glinting off the Cornucopia- and he remembered how he had been able to get there in time. He wasn't powerless. He wasn't. He had saved her. He remembered it fiercely, trying to banish the screams all around him with the truth.

"_Clove!" he called out, seeing her battling with the tribute from Eleven ahead of him. His legs carried him lightning fast through the grass and then he was there, his sword out. Then blood. _

He clung to this image and willed it into existence until the screams around him faded and he could feel the ropes around him loosen.

As soon as they did he felt himself drop. Where moments before he was sure there had been solid ground there was suddenly nothing. Air rushed passed him as he fell and after what felt like an eternity he managed to open his eyes and saw nothing but white. All around him was nothing but white. The sight made him squeeze his eyes shut again quickly. He was falling through absolutely nothing and the feeling made a wave of utter panic flood through his body. He loathed the lack of control of free falling. That sickening moment when you were climbing a tree and then a branch snapped under you and a second later you were falling, falling, falling. Your arms reached out a second too late to clutch at something, anything to save you but it was no good. You just fell through the air towards the ground and waited for the impact.

But he kept falling. No impact came. And after a few moments he managed to open his eyes again and his brain began to kick back in. If there was nothing around him then there was nothing to fall towards- no impact to be afraid of. He looked around him and thought how interesting it would be if you could fall like this through liquid, like when you dropped into a pool of water from a great height, and the next thing he knew the cool caress of water surrounded him. The white had been replaced by sparkling, rippling blue, as if there was sunlight up ahead somewhere, and he kicked his feet, propelling himself up. There was no coldness about the water. It was just pure, beautiful, refreshing water as they used to swim in the woodland pools during summer at home. His head broke the surface a moment later and he felt the heat of sunlight beating down upon his skin. It was warmer than any sun had ever been at home.

After he had dragged himself to land he battled his way through three more sights. First he encountered his first trainer- the towering and violent man who had terrified him as a ten year old boy joining the training centre. But after a few moments of cowering beneath his rage he remembered that he wasn't a scared little child any more. He was a Victor of the Hunger Games and he had survived more than most. The thought seemed to make a weapon materialise in his hand and the next second he was fighting his mentor, defeating him.

The next vision began with the sound of marching feet reaching his ears. He turned around and a line of peacekeepers was advancing on him, guns out. They marched like automatons and his instinctive fear of the military of the Capitol kicked in, sending spikes of fear through him and forcing him to run. He always seemed to be only just in front of their guns though no matter how fast he ran. As he ran he searched desperately ahead with his eyes, knowing all he needed was a place he could hide. They were robots. They weren't chasing him specifically, they were simply marching forward with cold precision. As if produced by the idea in his mind a building appeared before him. He zigzagged to the left and sprinted towards him. He made it through the door just as the first Peacekeepers reached the edge of the building and just as he'd expected they simply kept marching, ignoring him. He closed the door behind him and found himself engulfed in darkness.

He blinked, opening his eyes to the little room again. His head felt kind of fuzzy but as he quickly ran a check of himself he realised he felt otherwise fine. He looked over and saw Four gazing at him with an intensity that was unnerving. "You manipulated it," he said softly and Cato wondered if he had done something terribly wrong from the way Four's features were set in a grave expression. "How did you manipulate the simulation?"

Cato blinked and sat up. "It wasn't real."

Four rose to his feet and was standing over him in a moment. "But how did you _know_?" he demanded again. Cato was beyond confused. He didn't even understand what the hell had just happened really, let alone what Four meant. Manipulated? He'd just seen his worse fears and told himself that they couldn't be real so he didn't need to be afraid of them. "The children," Four elaborated and Cato started. He'd forgotten Four said he'd be able to see all Cato did. "How did you know you didn't have to kill them?"

Cato felt coldness wash over him and he lowered his gaze stonily to the ground. "They were dead. Some of them I killed myself. And I saw Aurora and Caius dead only a few weeks ago. They couldn't be there and _he_ couldn't make me kill them because they were already dead."

"So you knew it wasn't real?" Four said after a pause.

Cato frowned. "Of course," he said in confusion. Four stared at him sternly for a few moments and then his features all changed and he visibly relaxed. He took a step back, allowing Cato to rise to his feet. "You can go. But don't tell anyone about what you saw in here, okay?" He didn't have to expand. Cato knew what secrets were worth in this place. He nodded once and then walked towards the door on the opposite side of the room to the one he'd entered. At the door he turned.

"Clove-?" he began. Something close to amusement flashed across Four's eyes and he actually smiled. Cato wondered how clear it had been to Four that those screams were Clove's.

"She'll be out with you soon," he reassured him and Cato turned and gladly left the room.


	16. Chapter 16: Fear 2

**A/N: Again, sorry for the long wait. I've been working hard on an Enobaria backstory. If you'd like to check it out it's called Blood, Snow and Steel and I'm quite proud of it and I'd love you if you left me review. :) -Lu  
**

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Fear 2**

**CLOVE POV**

She waited for what felt like forever after Cato went in, but what probably in reality was only about twenty minutes. She couldn't help her signs of nervousness. There weren't many people left in the corridor now- and none of them she knew- so she didn't have to worry too much. She stared at the wall in front of her, her mind running frantically over what could be behind the door. It was almost worse imagining than anything could actually be- except she knew that wasn't true. Because most of what she imagined was some way based of a horror that had been far too real once. She nibbled her fingernails nervously, something she hadn't done since she was a little girl. She half expected her sister to come out of nowhere and swat at her hands angrily, scolding her viciously. The thought of her sister only sent her brain into overdrive again and she lapsed into what would appear to anyone else as a trance, but in fact was her mind racing a million miles an hour, chattering so loudly to her that it made her want to scream and rip out her hair. Without Cato there to tell her to get a grip or to even give her a stern look she was fast in danger of going insane. She never used to be like this. She used to be able to put up a wall and simply tell it to Stop. But something had broken and now her thoughts and her memories always found cracks in any feeble attempt at a wall she made.

The sound of the door opening made her jump and she looked up to see Four beckoning her forward. Shakily she climbed to her feet and walked towards him. She wished she knew where Cato had gone.

"Where is he?" she asked Four as he led her into a small room with a table and a chair. He motioned for her to sit down and she did, glancing around her.

"He's fine. He's waiting for you to be done." Four pointed to another door and Clove understood where everyone had disappeared to. Well at least that put an end to the serial killer theory that had flashed through her mind at one point. Unable to help herself she laughed breathlessly at the thought and Four gave her a strange look. Her eyes fell on a syringe in his hands and wordlessly she held out her arm. He gave her the look again but stepped forward.

"This is a fear serum. It'll take you through your fear landscape," he said simply. He was surprised when Clove suddenly pulled her arm back and he met her eyes with a frown. "What's wrong? It won't hurt, I promise."

"Fear landscape?" she breathed.

"It simply presents you with your fears, Clove." He gave her a small, genuine smile. "I'm sure a girl like you can fight them off." She wondered if he said that to everyone. The idea of facing her fears terrified her more than it should have, given her Career nature. They'd been supposedly forced to face their fears countless times through training. But then she'd realised that she'd never really known what her fears were. Not until they had entered the Arena and she'd been stung by the tracker jackers had she really known fear. To her this sounded far too much like that experience, one she was not eager to repeat. But then she reminded herself that she had survived that time. And then the grim though entered her head that most of those fears had already come true. What was there left to be afraid of? So she held out her arm and didn't flinch as he inserted the needle.

"Oh, I know I can fight them off," she said with resentful conviction and caught yet another curious look from Four before the serum took over.

She found herself standing in the middle of her old Training Centre. Everything about it was as familiar as the house she had grown up in- from the angle of the sunlight streaming through the high windows to the cracks in the concrete walls that created spidery patterns across the room.

There were teenagers and children of all ages standing around the room, some using weapons and sparring with each other but others simply standing and looking in her direction. They all looked mildly amused. She half turned, realising she was in the middle of the central fighting mat, and felt a heavy blow knock her to the ground. Sharp pains shot through her forearm where she had instinctively lifted it to protect herself. But her lifetime of training kicked in and she was on her feet, darting away, and looking for the next attack within seconds. It came swiftly, a thick bat came at her and she only just dodged in time, spinning away. What she didn't count on was the second bat from the second attacker that came straight after and it caught her to the ribs, knocking her down again. She rolled over, gasping for breath as more pains speared across her chest. She suspected it had fractured several ribs at the least. But still she tried to get up. The first attacker was on her too quick though and a sharp kick sent her flying a few meters. She coughed and saw blood appear on the mat below her.

"Get up!" a familiar voice shouted and she rolled onto her back and looked up at the furious face of her first instructor Domitius. His features were twisted into their usual look of disgust and hatred. "Get up you pathetic weakling!" he bellowed and gave her another kick. The pain all blurred together and she could no longer pick out what hurt where. Lifting her head as she tried to push herself off the mat she caught sight of the students all around her. There were more now. Even the ones that had been sparring had abandoned their matches and were standing in a circle around the mat, watching the show. And they were laughing. Some of them hid it behind their hands, smirking discreetly, but some outright scoffed at the sight of her loosing so shamefully. Their faces wore every form of contempt and disdain imaginable. She growled, furious with herself and determined to prove them wrong, and pushed herself from the mat. "Oh look the little baby decided to get up at last," Domitius said in a cold voice and he swung the bat at her again. She ducked, her reflexes a little too slow and it caught her on the side of the head, but she managed to stay standing and even spin away, turning with her arms up in a feeble attempt to defend herself. She couldn't do hand to hand combat, everyone knew that. She couldn't ever hope to match the strength of most of the girls who were twice her size, let alone the boys. Domitius didn't care though as he swung at her again. This time she was definitely too slow and it knocked her back to the ground. She felt his foot press into the small of her back and press her painfully into the mat."Pathetic!" he spat at her. "A waste of space. You're no good to anyone. Might as well kill you now and save them all the hassle."

She curled her fists so tight she felt her nails dig into her palms hard enough to draw blood and glared furiously at the mat beneath her. She wasn't weak. She wasn't pathetic. She'd proven herself over and over again. She'd beat them all and won her spot in that Arena. And she'd won her ticket home. She'd killed for them and she'd won dammit.

The thought of the Arena was enough to tell her what she needed. She had won. And she'd won with a blade in her hand. She lifted her hand and in one swift movement pulled a blade from her belt. Somehow she'd just known it would be there when she wrapped her fingers around the cool handle. With a desperate swing of her arm that sent a fresh wave of pain through her she plunged the blade into Domitius' calf. He bellowed and reeled backwards and she was on her feet the second he released her, her hands already filled with more blades. They hadn't been there a second ago but she didn't care. They were all she needed to win, to survive, and with a series of rapid movements she had sent five blades spinning into Domitius' chest. He fell in slow motion and she glared around the other students, challenging anyone to attack her now.

The shocked faces of the students around her faded and the air thickened until suddenly she realised it wasn´t air anymore, but water. She struck out with her fists but instead of being in the Traininc Centre she was now floating in the middle of an expanse of water, no, not floating...sinking. There was no patch of air and she was definitely sinking down. Panicking she began to kick with her feet, trying to reach the surface, but she wasn´t even sure which way was up. Forcing herself to stop, feeling her lungs already protesting the lack of oxygen, she swam in a quick circle, looking around her. Water stretched away in every direction into darkness. She hated large expanses of water. Who knew what might be lurking in the depths. At the thought she looked below her in panic and tried to scream, a series of bubbled escaping her mouth, as she thought she was a dark shape swim beneath her. She kept her eyes trained on the depths but nothing else moved and she told herself to calm. She needed all the air she could get. Her lungs were beginning to burn and she had to concentrate to not instinctively take a large gulp of air. She´d almost drowned once, when she was a child, and she remembered clearly the moment when her lungs had decided to breathe without her brain but instead of clean, precious air they´d been filled with water which made her cough and choke. She pushed the memory from her mind and concentrated. The dark shape flickered again and she propelled up a bit, trying to get further away from it.

It might not be anything bad, she told herself. Just because it´s in water doesn´t mean it´s bad, right? She tried to think what could be harmless down here, even better, what could be useful? As if she'd made them materialise the dark shapes began to grow and solidify towards her. She kicked her legs frantically but they were moving too fast. But as they got closer she stopped kicking. They weren't harmful at all. They were exactly what she'd imagined. Three shimmering blue dolphins swam up to her, their noses butting against her legs playfully. One slid against her back and in some strange way she understood what it was telling her. She latched her fingers around its fin and it began to swim, rushing through the water with surprising speed. She wasn't sure if it could swim fast enough though. Her lungs were screaming in agony and she had to focus with every ounce of energy not to take a much need gulp of air. Just as she thought she couldn't hold out any longer her head broke the surface and she gasped, floundering about and taking in big mouthfuls of beautiful, fresh, crisp air. She never thought simple air could feel so good.

As the scene dissolved around her, her mind was frantically working. She understood now what this was. It wasn't like the tracker jackers at all, because you could influence this. Whatever you decided to do had in impact on the fears. She could chose to fight them, or outlast them, or change them, like when she'd pulled the knives from thin air. The realisation gave her comfort as the clearing of her Arena materialised around her. The sun beat down and insects buzzed in the grass and as she flipped onto her back sunlight glinting off the golden Cornucopia temporarily blinded her. So it was to the sound of someone rushing towards her that she responded and quickly rolled out of the way as a rock slammed down into the ground a second ago where her head had been. With a sickening sensation she remembered this and she looked up, already knowing she was going to see the monstrous boy from District Eleven towering over her. But she remembered what she had learnt and she knew that unlike last time, when she hadn't been able to defend herself against him and only Cato had saved her at the last minute, she could save herself.

The knowledge of returned control sharpened her mind against each round of fears she faced next and after Thresh she defeated the terrifying mutts with the eyes of her dead friends, she saved Cato from a slow and tortured death Snow planned on giving him, she dodged bullets that rained around her as she desperately ran to or from something- she wasn't sure which.

As the last scene faded and saw the little room come back into focus and she realised it was over. She blinked up at Four. "Did I do good?" she said with a grin, sitting up and unhooking herself before he had a chance. He was staring at her with a slight frown and an unsettling intensity. But then his expression cleared and he smiled.

"Yeah, you did well Clove. Good job." He helped her with the last of the wires and stood up, opening the door for her. Out in the corridor Cato lounged against the wall, but quickly stood straight when he saw her. His eyes darted over her before meeting her own and she gave him a quick reassuring smile and watched his body relax.

"Domitius says hi," she said with a playful punch to his shoulder. It was better to joke about it than to actually recall any of it. She might have proven herself stronger than each fear but they still left a heavy, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Cato frowned for a moment but then broke into a smile and gave a short laugh.

"I hope you gave him a kick from me," he said.

They both turned at the sound of Four clearing his throat and their smiles faded. "Just remember, not a word," he said intensely, his eyes boring into the pair of them. They nodded silently, completely serious now. He closed the door and they gave each other a quick glance before turning and walking away down the corridor, side by side.

* * *

Another A/N: If any of you do end up reading Blood, Borrow, and Steel don't get confused. There are a few similarities between that story and this chapter but they're not connected. The Domitius' are two completely different people.


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